In Vienna, minds were opened up to the Far Eastern arts in 1873 with the Universal Exhibition. In the space of a few decades, a veritable craze developed, particularly for Japanese prints: this was ‘Japanomania’. The young Oskar Kokoschka (1886-1980), with his thirst for different modes of expression, was also seduced. From an early age, he adopted the new formal vocabulary with great porosity. In Vienna, Berlin and Dresden, where he stayed for long periods at the beginning of his career, he had the opportunity to familiarise himself with important collections of Asian art. Kokoschka went on to build up his own collection of ukiyo-e, which is the subject of this exhibition. These engravings, most of which were produced around 1800, have undeniable qualities of homogeneity and are the work of the great masters of the turn of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. They depict courtesans, and sometimes their suitors, in close-up scenes that emphasise facial expressions and elaborate hairstyles.
The exhibition is curated by Aglaja Kempf, curator of the Oskar Kokoschka Foundation. Created in 1988, the Oskar Kokoschka Foundation is housed in the Musée Jenisch Vevey, where it has its own dedicated space. A temporary exhibition is held there every year.
