Japanese Gentleman with a Western Umbrella

François Clément Sommier, better known as Henry Somm, was trained as an illustrator. He found work in Paris and in 1879 was invited to exhibit with the Impressionists. Somm felt the influence of Japanese art and culture which at that time permeated the Parisian art world. For this watercolor, he chose a Japanese man as the subject and placed him in an impressionist landscape; the uptilted picture plane recalls Japanese ukiyo-e prints. The late 19th-century fascination with things Japanese expanded Somm's vision of the world and opened his art to new themes.