Th?odore Duret（1838-1927）是十九世紀法國的日本藝術收藏家、藝評家、記者、政治家，也是印象派畫家的第一批倡導者之一，他多元的身分背景與文化知識，反映他在豐碩的著作中。 1871 年，Duret與同伴 Henri Cernuschi（1821-1896）展開了為期一年左右的亞洲旅行。歸國後出版了《亞洲之旅》（1874）一書，書中紀錄了兩人在1871年至1873年間探訪亞洲的所見所聞與納藏亞洲藝術品的過程。近十年後，Duret又在《美術雜誌》上刊登了〈日本藝術、插圖書籍、印刷圖冊：北齋〉（1882）一文，奠定了他作為一位北齋大師地位。爾後這位日本藝術愛好者更在1899年至1900年間，將他大量的日本繪本收藏，捐贈給法國國家圖書館，並替這些作品編寫了目錄《日本的插圖書籍與圖冊》（1900）。目錄中共紀錄了1392冊年代橫跨十六至十九世紀的日本繪本。部分作品雖非今日浮世繪史上所關注的主要對象，但卻深刻反映出十九世紀末法國前衛畫家與藝評家眼中的日本「印象主義」。 本論文將透過Duret在不同時期的著作中對於日本藝術的評價，剖析這位印象派藝評家對於日本美術的理解，尤其以被收錄在《日本的插圖書籍與圖冊》中的日本繪本為主要討論對象，藉此觀看十九世紀末的法國人對於日本繪本的認識。 ;Th?odore Duret (1838-1927) is a Japanese art collector, art critic, journalist and politician in France in the 19th century. He is also one of the first advocates of the Impressionists. His diverse background and cultural knowledge are reflected in his abundant works. One of his well-known works is Voyage en Asie (Travel to Asia), which was published in 1874 after a trip with his friend, Henri Cernuschi (1821-1896), to Asia from 1871 to 1873. This work recorded the experience of the two travelers in Japan and their process of acquiring Asian artworks. About ten years later, Duret published an article “L′art japonais, les livres illustr?s, les albums imprim?s: Hokousa?” on Gazette des beaux-arts, which made him as one of the first French specialists on Hokusai. During 1899-1900, this Japanese art enthusiast donated the extensive body of Japanese illustrated books(E-hon) to National Library of France. In conjunction with this acquisition, National Library of France and Duret published a catalogue of the collection, named Livres et albums illustr?s du Japon: R?unis et Catalogu?s (Illustrated Books and Albums from Japan: Gathered and Cataloged), in 1900. This catalogue recorded and commented about 1392 volumes of Japanese illustrated books spanning from the end of the 16th century to the 19th century. Although some works in the catalogue are not so well known in the history of Ukiyo-e, these works reflect the Japanese “impressionism” in the eyes of French avant-garde painters and art critics in the late 19th century. In order to reveal how Duret commented Japanese art, this paper will focus on his literature in different periods and especially discuss ‘‘Japanese illustrated books’’ which were recorded in his catalogue. I hope that this study will contribute to our understanding about how the French interpreted of Japanese illustrated books in the end of the 19th century.
