Pattern of the Orient 

Fujishima Takeji produced this ink drawing called "Pattern of the Orient." It shows the artist’s absorption with the cultural forms of Asia and, specifically here, with the artistic conventions of ancient Egypt. Takeji was working in the early decades of the 20th century, a time when Japanese artists were negotiating their relationship to the West and to their own cultural heritage. This drawing exemplifies the period's fascination with otherness, as a group of figures are placed within a strong horizontal composition with the aim of capturing what was seen as the essence of 'the Orient'. How might we better understand this fascination? It’s clear that the artist was drawn to the aesthetics of ancient Egyptian art. It would be fascinating to compare this image with others produced by Japanese artists, and to analyze period texts to discover how the ‘Orient’ was understood at the time. Art's meaning is always contingent on its historical and institutional context.