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Flower Market, Tokyo by Robert Frederick Blum, c. 1892.
Blum was born in Cincinnati where he worked for a lithographer before he began to take classes in drawing. He had a strong interest in all things Japanese as did many other artists at the time such as Whistler and Monet. Blum's preferred medium was pastels and he and W.M. Chase founded the Society of Painters in Pastel in New York.
Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room, designed by James McNeill Whistler, 1876-77.
Whistler was asked by the room's owner to paint the room to compliment the painting that Whistler had done that is seen over the fireplace. When the owner returned he was stunned and horrified at what Whistler had done. Luckily, he did not destroy it and the room is now found at the Freer Gallery in Washington D.C.
The Peacock Room, 1877 by James McNeill Whistler, Freer Gallery, Smithsonian.
Whistler, in his usual flamboyant and arrogant manner, took his decoration of this London dining room to such an extreme, he angered and the patron and made their argument public.
Symphony in White No.2: Little White Girl by James Abbot McNeill Whistler, Tate Gallery, London.
The Japanese theme in Whistler's art can be seen in the decorations around the figure of the woman. Around the mid 19th century Japanese influences began to appear in Europe and became quite fashionable.