Emil Orlik - Model | Highlights from the NGP

Japonisme is a term denoting the reception of Japanese influences into European culture. It appeared in the 1860s, when Japanese ports opened up and a variety of goods, including art objects, started to flow into Europe.

The interest in Japan was further enhanced by the World’s Fair in Paris in 1867. Japanese woodcuts began to come to Europe, arousing great interest among the artists of the time. Japanese art dazzled Europeans with its elegance that combined views of observed reality with refined stylization. Its graceful, but firm contours, shaping lines and bright flat colours were imitated. Artists inspired by Japanese art included, for example, Vincent van Gogh, Monet, Manet, Gauguin, and Whistler. Japonisme resonated among Czech artists as well, among them Alfons Mucha and Emil Orlik, who is the author of this painting.

Emil Orlik lived from 1870 to 1932. He was born in Prague and was artistically connected with Vienna, where he was a member – along with Gustav Klimt – of the Vienna Secession, and with Munich, Berlin and, of course, Prague. Emil Orlik travelled through a large part of Europe and realised how much Japanese woodcut had influenced the art of the time. That is why he decided to learn this technique directly from local artists. In 1900, he travelled from Genoa via Hong Kong to Japan. He spent almost one year there and travelled through a large part of the country. Orlik was fascinated by everyday life in the exotic country, by Japanese women, their gait and posture, which might have seemed stylized to a European. Orlik also took an interest in traditional forms, such as the Noh and Kabuki theatre.

After returning from Japan, he painted this large work called Model in 1904. Its format refers to the kakemono hanging scroll. The work combines the European convention – a female nude in the artist’s studio – and a number of references to Japan. A screen, a kimono, a tatami mat, and, of course, hanging masks used in the Noh theatre. The lighter ko-omote mask represents a girl, a virgin, untouched purity. Below hangs a depiction of the demon o-beshimi, the protector against evil forces. The model covers her face chastely while ko-omote looks down at her. o-beshimi looks directly at the viewer, his expression demonstrating strength. In the masks hanging on the wall, the artist refers to the duality of genders. Alternatively, we might interpret them as two poles within a single human being.

Emil Orlik was a promoter of Japan in Europe. He himself owned and exhibited an extensive collection of Japanese woodcuts and often lectured on the topic. Later he undertook a second trip to the Far East. He travelled through Egypt, Sudan, then China and Korea, all the way to Japan.