At the end of the 19th century, when Japan opened its doors to trade with the West, interest in its culture and art spread rapidly through European society. In particular, the popular prints of the type known as ukiyo-e became objects of admiration, both for the bourgeoisie and for artists themselves. Bourgeois interiors filled with Japanese ornaments –printed cloths, screens, sunshades, fans...–, but unlike what had happened with other superficially assimilated exoticisms, the style of these prints –the line, the flat colours, the framing and formats– was to be decisive in structuring the aesthetics of the avant-gardes.