Butterflies with lustre and birds with glaze
One of the main sources of inspiration for the industrial art revolution that took place in Europe in the second half of the 19th century was the newly widely known Japanese art. Thousands of artefacts arrived from Japan, which opened its ports to Western ships from 1853, and spread through the markets of Europe, finding a place in our public and private collections.
In Hungary, the Zsolnay factory in Pécs was one of the most important centers for the modernization of the ceramic industry and the creation of new tastes, and in its era from the 1870s to the 1910s, although it was a hiding place, the inspiring presence of Japanese art can still be found in the work of the factory.
The chamber exhibition explores the rich Japanese-themed resources of the factory and the family, presents the processes of "borrowing", "reinterpretation" and "rethinking", and outlines how the acceptance of Japanese art shaped the tastes of the factory and its customers.
Photo: István Füzi © Janus Pannonius Museum, Zsolnay Museum
