Art Institute of Chicago

The Harvest of Buckwheat

Paul Sérusier (French, 1864–1927)

Date

1899

Medium

Oil on canvas

Culture

France

Department

Painting and Sculpture of Europe

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

The Harvest of Buckwheat demonstrates how Paul Sérusier’s interest in Japanese art influenced his painting. The simplified forms and asymmetrical composition are elements also found in Japanese prints, which circulated widely in France in the late 1800s. The vertical format, too, recalls the panels of Japanese wall hangings or screens. Sérusier shared an affinity for Japanese aesthetics with his fellow members of the Nabis, a group of artists whose name, coined by poet Henri Cazalis, comes from the Hebrew word for prophet . The group believed that painting should be decorative as opposed to purely representational. As a result, they sought formats and approaches that departed from traditional easel painting.

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