In 1854, the Convention of Kanagawa allowed for trade between Japan and the West. Artists like Edgar Degas, Claude Monet and Vincent van Gogh began to collect ukiyo-e prints, or woodblock prints. Western art commonly utilizes the illusion of having three-dimensional space, while Japanese art focuses more on bold outlines and flat regions of color. The medium for Asian art is commonly thin rice paper or woodblocks while Western paintings are usually oil on canvas. At the end of the 19th century, Impressionism was greatly influenced by Japanese art. Japanese prints are characterized by elaborate patterns, communal subject matter, unusual perspectives and lack of chiaroscuro or depth. Japanese artists such as Koide Narashige, Hazama Inosuke and Hayashi Shizue spent time in Paris and picked up Western techniques and theories of art.
