FEATURED EVENT
LECTURE | IMPRESSIONS: ARTISTIC ENCOUNTERS BETWEEN JAPAN AND FRANCE
The influence of Japanese art upon French artists, from Edgar Degas to Claude Monet,
is a widely celebrated artistic phenomenon, but what impression did French art make
upon Japan?
Join us for an evening with Dr. Helen Swift as she reveals how Japanese artists
sought inspiration in Paris and introduced a new wave of Western-style painting
(洋画; yōga) to Japan at the turn of the twentieth century.
ABOUT THE PRESENTER
Dr. Helen Swift
Art Historian & Educator
JICC, Embassy of Japan
Dr. Helen Swift is an art historian and educator specializing in the visual culture
of the Edo and Meiji periods. She was formerly the Japan Foundation Assistant Curator of Japanese Art
at the Portland Art Museum, Oregon and is currently the Educational Programs Coordinator at the
Japan Information and Culture Center, Embassy of Japan.
Helen earned her BA from the University of Cambridge and her PhD in the History of Japanese Art
from Harvard University, where her research was supported by the Japan Foundation,
the Metropolitan Center for Far Eastern Art Studies, and the Reischauer Institute.
OPENING REMARKS
Lynda Frenois
Cultural Attaché, Embassy of France in the United States
Director, Villa Albertine Washington, D.C.
Lynda Frenois is a French diplomat, Cultural Attaché at the Embassy of France in the United States,
and Director of Villa Albertine Washington, D.C.
With more than twenty years of experience leading museums, heritage institutions, and international cultural
initiatives, she has held senior positions in France and abroad, including at UNESCO.
Her work is dedicated to advancing cultural diplomacy and fostering high-level partnerships between
leading cultural, academic, and philanthropic institutions across Europe and the United States.
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