Paul Ranson, the nabi more japanese than the nabi japanese

Paul Ranson was born in Limoges in 1861, just a few years after Japan opened its doors to Western trade. From then on, the influence of Japanese artists grew and led to the coining of the term "Japonisme" in 1872 by art critic Philippe Burty to describe this new art.

Like his Nabis friends, particularly Pierre Bonnard but also Maurice Denis, Paul Ranson was fascinated by Japanese printmaking masters such as Hiroshige, Utamaro and Hokusaï from the late 1880s onwards, whose works he collected. works. Very sensitive to the notion of decorative art, he applied its principles to his painting throughout the 90s, and the influence of Japanese art on his work made him, in the eyes of his contemporaries, "the nabi more japonard than the nabi japonard", the latter being his friend Pierre Bonnard.