Resting

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.

Japanisme

Girl in a White Kimono (Geesje Kwok), 1894 by George Breitner.

As an example of the influence of Japan in Europe at this time, the young girl wears a kimono in front of a floral screen. Van Gogh was fascinated with Japanese art and culture and was a contemporary (if not necessarily an admired one) of Breitner.