It’s been over a month since I began my internship at Galerie Taménaga in Paris, an art gallery specialized in both Western masters’ art and contemporary Japanese art, and recently, I had the opportunity to travel to Deauville in northern France for the exhibition “Floating Worlds: From Japonisme to Contemporary Art” at Les Franciscaines Deauville.

This exhibition features thirty-nine contemporary artworks by seventeen Japanese artists, including twenty-four pieces from the renowned Mori Art Museum in Tokyo. It also incorporates two modern masterpieces, Degas’ Femme se coiffant and Redon’s Les Barques, courtesy of Galerie Taménaga.

The combination of modern and impressionist works with ukiyo-e prints, created by both Japanese and French artists, fosters a dialogue that transcends time and space.

I found it fascinating to observe how the dialogue around Japonisme was extended to contemporary Japanese art and artists, and to see how the perception of Japan differed and evolved from both a Western perspective and a Japanese point of view.