Vijf Japanse vazen before 1875

Curator: Seeing this page laid out so formally makes the unruly, exuberant designs on the vases even more striking. I feel like they're about to burst right off the page! Editor: Indeed! We're looking at an image of "Vijf Japanse vazen," or "Five Japanese Vases," predating 1875, attributed to Ghémar Frères and housed at the Rijksmuseum. It's a photographic print capturing the height of Japonisme's influence. It speaks volumes about how objects were encountered and disseminated during that era. Curator: There's something so tactile about the original photograph, even reproduced like this. You can almost feel the weight of the paper, the delicate details…it’s a world away from scrolling through images online. It gives the objects an incredible gravity. Editor: Absolutely. Consider the colonial context: these vases weren't simply aesthetic objects; they were carriers of cultural exchange—or, arguably, cultural appropriation. Western fascination with Japanese art often overlooked the nuanced social and political dynamics at play. The print, then, becomes a document of that complex power dynamic. Curator: Power dynamic for sure, but I see also artists finding incredible inspiration. Imagine a Parisian painter who might have never seen the actual objects—discovering these exotic, dreamlike forms in print? The possibilities it unlocked... Editor: And consider who had access to these prints, and thus, this inspiration. This speaks to class, empire, and the gaze. But your point is well taken about the role these objects played as creative fuel for some Western artists. It’s worth asking, who benefits from these representations and encounters? And at what cost? Curator: Cost is important, absolutely. But it does come back to an experience, too, one I feel reflected even now. Editor: Indeed, art invites continual reassessment. Seeing this photograph of Japanese vases in the Rijksmuseum invites us to investigate how cultural artifacts function within global systems of power, value, and meaning. Curator: Yes, even now, what a strange thrill, to connect across centuries and continents because of a page, some vases, and a funny old camera. It still manages to feel quite magic.