Many of the ninetheenth century Japanese and European artworks in this collection depict similar landscape subject matter.

However, the styles are very different. Artists in Japan and Europe used line and color very differently.  Additionally, they used technical processes popular within their respective artworlds: woodcuts in Japan and outdoor painting in Europe and the United States.

Painting outdoors was made possible by the nineteenth century invention of paint tubes, which replaced pots of paint.  New chemical pigments made possible the use of brighter colors.

We can see the effects of different technologies on nineteenth century art in Japan and Europe. 

In the 21st century, we may think of technology only as electronic.  However, artists and craftspeople all over the world have been developing new technologies for millennia.  For example artists and craftspeople in Africa have devised many ways to store and carry the necessities of daily life.