The Japanese Influence On

Belle Epoque Masters

FAIRFIELD — Diana Mille, PhD, director of the Thomas J. Walsh Art Gallery at Fairfield University, will consider Japanese influences on Claude Monet, Mary Cassatt, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and other Impressionists and post-Impressionists on Wednesday, April 30, at 12:30 pm. Dr Mille will be lecturing in the gallery in Fairfield University’s Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts.

Her talk, “Japanese and the ‘Belle Epoque,’” is the last of four Director’s Choice lectures on selected topics in modern and contemporary art scheduled for the 2002-03 season.

Japonisme, a term coined by French art critic Philippe Burty in 1876, refers to the influence of Japanese aesthetic ideas, particularly those found in woodcut prints, on western artists of that time. Many Impressionist and post-Impressionist artists incorporated Japanese themes and style into their work.

Dr Mille will discuss several of the masters of the era, including Honoré Daumier, Edgar Degas, James Tissot, Camille Pissaro, Cassatt, Monet and Toulouse-Lautrec.

“The point of the talk is to divide the art of the ‘Belle Epoque’ into themes, such as the café, circus, theater, boulevards, and discuss selected artists who painted these themes, paying particular attention to the influence of Japanese prints in these works,” said Dr Mille.

Admission to the one-hour lecture is $5 and participants are invited to bring a brown bag lunch. For more information call 203-254-4000 extension 2969.