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Orientalism Ourobouros in The Legend Of Korra, Part 1: Art Nouveau

The Legend Of Korra is fucking weird. It’s visually fucking weird. It’s a result of early 2010s interest in steampunk, Watanabe, and Miyazaki. In TLOK, we’re working off a base of oriental-influenced western animation, with added early 20th century (inevitably “western,”) aesthetics, and most of those western aesthetics themselves wouldn’t exist without 19th century orientalism fads! Hilariously cyclical.

To fully understand the cultural inspirations in the art and design of The Legend Of Korra, we must at some point tackle the show’s introduction of western influences. And to fully understand those western influences, we must tackle the introduction of eastern influences in western modern art movements.

I will try and give a brief history of Art Nouveau and its orientalist inception.

Alphonse Mucha detail, idealized figures and organic ornamentation.

Art Nouveau was an international modern art movement in late 19th/early 20th century Europe and America, (especially associated with the American Gilded Age). It was the precursor to the Art Deco movement, and there was some minimal overlap between the two. When we say art movement, we mean it didn’t contain itself to any one medium - architecture, fashion, fine art, advertising, glassware, furniture, etc were all participants in Art Nouveau. I think the most recognizable examples are definitely in print and advertising - you probably recognize the work of Alphonse Mucha.

[Advertisement for JOB cigarettes by Alphonse Mucha (1896) showing a woman with long flowing hair smoking a cigarette.]

Art historians often interpret Art Nouveau as a reaction to the Industrial Revolution. As more and more people migrate to cities to work in factories, the public feels less and less connected to nature. Art Nouveau responded with highly naturalistic designs and motifs, a fantastical escape from industrial toil.

[Image titled "Luxury design for the masses." Left: Wooden cabinet by Émile Gallé (1900). Right: Autumn crocus vase by Émile Gallé (1900).]

[Left: The Hotel Van Eetvelde (1895) - one of the four great townhouse of the architect Victor Horta, in Brussels. Middle: Tropon poster by Henry Van de Velde (1899).]

[Metro entrance by Hector Guimard, Port Dauphine (1900) and metro ironwork detail.]

[Left: Assorted Art Nouveau jewelry from "Metamorphosis of a Jewel" exhibit (7). Right: Art Nouveau Coffeehouse Riquet, with Chinese inspired architecture, Leipzig, Germany.]

In Art Nouveau you will be able to find heavy reference and inspiration from celtic, neo-classical, and rococo art. (6)

The movement didn’t only draw on familiar ornamental and naturalistic aesthetics of the past. As the world rapidly changed around them, artists wanted to change with it. “The movement itself was motivated by the idea that artists wanted to move away from creating art using eclecticism, which is the concept of drawing from other sources to create a greater whole. In other words Art Nouveau was an attempt to break away from the constrictions of traditional art styles at the time, hence why the name literally means “new art” in French.” (2)

But how do you create art that is actually new, fresh, modern, not derivative of something everyone is familiar with? Simple. You make art derivative of something your contemporaries are not familiar with.

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[Left: Book cover design for "Art Furniture Designed by Edward W. Godwin," (1878). Right: "Anglo-Japanese Drawing Room Furniture," designs by Edward Godwin. Edward Godwin was a prominent British weeb.]

The western world expanded its reach in the mid 1800s, and Europe and America familiarized themselves with Asia through imperialism, colonization, exploration and trade, and technological advancements in locomotion and communication. Artists took from Asia, (and I do mean Asia in entirety), among other things, organic forms and subject matter, patterns and ornamentation, and representational stylizations.

Art Nouveau was ornamental and organic, which had been seen before in Europe in Rococo ornamentations, but was not necessarily realistic, more representational of nature and natural forms - and this was new to contemporary European and American art. “Avoidance of realism is in itself Oriental.” (1) (At least, it is when orientalism is the main source of inspiration for abandoning realism).

Late contemporaries of the movement noted; It was “The influence of the East making here for a loose technique in painting, there for a playful weightlessness of construction, and again in other works for flat-pattern effects…unique synthesis of ornamental and of ‘Impressionist’ qualities in Eastern art,” (1) that gave Art Nouveau its distinctive style.

The most prominent and recognizable influences were probably Japan and China, such as Chinese watercolor paintings and Japanese printmaking. “To a great extent, the intermediary between the paintings Chinese and the nineteenth century French artists was the Japanese print.” (1) Not that it stopped there, by any means. But it's easiest to find examples and parallels.

You can see a lot of the qualities of Japanese prints in Art Nouveau -

Organic forms

A flat, two dimensional impression

Use of watercolor and water based inks

Idealized feminine figures

etc. Even earlier western art movements like impressionism were influenced by the art of China and Japan.

[Left: An example of Orientalist influence in Van Gogh's "Almond Blossoms." (1888-1890) Right: An example of Japanese floral art by Hokusai.]

There’s no way I’ll be able to fit in every example and analysis of all the eastern influences in Art Nouveau - visual aides, come to my rescue!

[Left: Art Nouveau vase by Hessenberg and Company, with a stylized dragon/creature climbing the spout. Right: Pale Celadon of the K'ang Hsi period, with a stylized dragon/creature climbing the spout.]

[Left: Chinese gate with moon-shaped frame. Right: Art Nouveau storefront in Paris.]

[Left: Japanese interior. Right: Living room at Primavesi Villa, Windelsdorf, (1913-14). Heavier ornamentation in the European example, but the clean design of the floors and walls would have been pretty foreign and obviously orientally-influenced for Europe at this time.]

China and Japan are the countries most often referenced by Art Nouveau contemporaries when talking about influences on their art, but they are far from being the only eastern cultures referenced. The movement also took inspiration from South and West Asia, as well as Egypt, the latter which will come up more in our discussion of Art Deco.

[Detail from a Javanese batik sarong. Represents the kind of ornamentation and 2D design western Nouveau artists loved to rip off for print, furniture, and fashion.]

So far, I have been mostly talking about a one-sided kind of synthesis, but this wasn’t a one-sided exchange (despite the power imbalance of many of these exchanges being squarely in the west’s favor). Just as the western world was changing rapidly, so was the eastern world.

To some in China and Japan, modern art movements were symbols of European and American imperialism and hegemony. To others, it was an opportunity to create their own versions of the art movements, to combine tradition with foreign influence, to try and create new art for their new reality. I can’t really speak to which interpretation is more viable - but I will say that eastern artists of the early 20th century deserve to have their agency respected, and their art appreciated.

[Left: Hi No Tori (Firebird) woodblock print by Hiromitsu Nakawaza. Inspired by Russian Ballet, "L'oiseau de Feu." Right: "Blossoming Plum Tree by a River," postcard design by Nagoya Design Association (1905-1910).]

Takeaways - what do I want people to be thinking about as they watch TLOK with an eye for Art Nouveau influence?

The anatomy - can you recognize Art Nouveau more easily now? Recognize organic forms, stylized representations, ornate metal and glasswork, influences from European and Asian art?

The thematic relevance - can you recognize the logic behind referencing this art movement in a setting like Republic City? Are the artists and architects of Republic City reacting to their rapidly changing environment, trying to create a new art movement that belongs to them alone? “In other words, they shunned the results of former great art – the mistake of their immediate predecessors – but tried to get at the essence underlying the production of it, which at last they adopted for the purpose of arriving at their own artistic achievements.” (1)

The pitfalls - can you recognize that the creation of this art movement is completely tied up in 19th century western imperialism? For all its relevance to the setting of TLOK, isn’t it still an anachronism?

I know I didn't put any examples of Art Nouveau from the show in this post - that's what's coming next!

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