Japan’s borders were largely closed to outsiders for centuries until 1854, when the country was opened to trade and travel. Japanese goods hit markets across Europe and America, sparking an international craze known as “Japonisme.” Artists seeking to defy European conventions saw new possibilities in Japanese art and a visual language that changed the West, shaping Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, and Art Nouveau, among many other avant-garde styles and movements. Central to the exhibition…