Introduction
Japan has a long history of its rich art and culture beginning as early as 4thc. BCE. The history of art is marked by continuous influences from its Asian neighbors like china and Korea. The ideas and styles in art imported from china predominantly began in the seventh century with the introduction of Buddhism to Japan. In the 9th century, as the Japanese began to turn away from China and develop indigenous forms of expression, the secular arts became increasingly important; until the late 15th century, both religious and secular arts flourished. In the sixteenth and seventeenth century, after coming into contact with the western world, Japan sought many influence form the western modern age, which were ultimately assimilated into the Japanese form of art. In the following paper focuses on the developments that took place in the style, subject and technique of painting in between the ninth and the eighteenth century in Japan.
The Heian period
Japan entered its classical age with the beginning of the 8th c. when the capital was moved to Hein-kyo; this was the beginning of the Heina period (794-1185).
During this era, the courtiers of king had developed a brilliant culture and lifestyle that were adopted from china but was uniquely Japanese in its translation. In painting, both Buddhist and secular paintings were developed. The art in this period followd the Shingon sect of Buddhism, at the core of which, are the Mandalas as the diagrams of the spiritual universe; the Kongōkai, a chart of the myriad worlds of Buddhism; and the Taizōkai, a pictorial representation of the realms of the Buddhist universe. These paintings, especially the Mandalas, were realized in the temples as brilliantly colored hanging scrolls or as frescoes.
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... period in the eighth century. In the early Heian period Buddhist art and architecture greatly influenced the traditional Shinto arts, and Buddhist painting ... were priests who learned art in China and brought ideas across to Japan. Priests studied painting and sculpture as regular ... of Japanese art between the sixth and the sixteenth centuries. Buddhist art and religion came to Japan from China, with the ...
In the late part of the Henian period the illustrated and narrative hand scroll, emaki, came to practice. Around 1130 CE this practice was much popular and at the highest point in Japanese painting. The emotional content of the subject was transferred in the painting by a devised system of pictorial conventions. Some other scrolls also dealt with depiction of active motion with the help of rapidly executed brush strokes and thin but vibrant colors.
The kamakura Art
During the Kamakura period (1185-1333), the paintings were produced chiefly depicted military and religious subjects such as battles, the lives of Buddhist priests, and the history of Shinto and Buddhist temples. It comprised of passages of text that were written with a maximum of easily readable syllables, and illustrations that have a dialogue in between the characters. The hanging scroll (picture 1) is an example of Kamakura art piece that has calligraphy painted on the top along with the picture in bottom. This is a type of painting that has lettering along with the drawing. The lettering and figure of a sage are done in ink, using a brush. The rectangular forms are made with stamps, using red ink.
The Muromachi period
During the Muromachi period (1338-1573), Japan engaged in missions to china for trading and other secular purposes. On retreat, these missions brought along with them the Chinese samples of art, which influenced the Muromachi-period art form. Not only did these imports change the subject matter of painting, but they also modified the use of color. The brilliant colors of Japanese ‘Yamato-e’ styled paintings were replaced the monochromes in the Chinese manner. The Chinese monochrome ink painting became the principal painting style of painting during this period.
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Migration Period art is the artwork of Germanic peoples during the Migration period of 300 to 900. It includes the Migration art of the Germanic tribes on the continent, as well the start of the Insular art or Hiberno-Saxon art of the Anglo-Saxon and Celtic fusion in the British Isles. It covers many different styles of art including the polychrome style and the animal style. Migration Period art ...
The Falcons and Herons painted by Japanese artist Sesshu, shows the use of monochrome in painting
Momoyama Art
During the Momoyama period (1573-1603), ‘Kano’ was the most important school of painting and a landmark innovation of the period was the technique developed by Kano Eitoku for the creation of monumental landscapes on the sliding doors enclosing a room. Some of the paintings done by Eitoku reveal brightly colored style of painting preferred by the samurai. Hasegawa Tohaku, a contemporary of Eitoku during Momoyama period, developed different and more decorative style for large-scale screen paintings. His six-fold screen, ‘Pine Wood’ (picture 3)is a painting rendered in monochrome ink of a grove of trees enveloped in mist.
The ‘Pine Wood’ by Hasegawa Tohaku
Tokugawa period and Paintings in the Edo period
During the Tokugawa period, many schools of painting flourished with some of them drawing inspirations from the western techniques like shading and foreshortening to produce the illusion of space and depth. The genre art, which depicted people at work and play, was the most popular of all. For genre art was the wood-block print in which artists used wooden blocks print technique to create ‘Ukiyo-e’ or ‘pictures of the floating world’ was largely practiced. The courtesans and the Kabuki actors were the popular subjects for such paintings. The artist Hokusai painted ‘The Wave’ (1831), a view of Mount Fuji through a huge, curling wave.
In the same period, another school of painting developed parallel to the Ukiyo-e, the Bunjinga, a style based on paintings executed by Chinese painters. The Ukiyo-e artists preferred to depict the Japanese figures from life outside the strictures of the Tokugawa Shogunate, whereas Bunjin artists turned to Chinese culture.
‘The wave’ by Hokusai, an example of ‘Ukiyo-e’ style of painting
Summing up
Since the earlier period, Painting has been the preferred artistic expression in Japan, as compared to any other form of art like sculpting, architecture or theater. It has been practiced by amateur and professional alike. The early influences that it received from China and Korea helped Japan to develop its art to a certain degree of quality. However, with the development of its own painting, the Chinese element in the painting lessened and this helped in the development of a purely Japanese form of art. Brilliant colors were synonymous with Japanese painting. With the later intervention of Chinese art in the fourteenth and the fifteenth century, the monochrome was also explored in the Momoyaman art. During the later period of the seventeenth and the eighteenth century, the Japanese also gained influence from the west to produce the ukiyo-e styled paintings.
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Surviving Paintings of Baroque Period Baroque style conveyed the dynamic spirit of the entire age. Derived from the Portuguese word barocco, which describes the irregularly shaped pearls commonly featured in the ornamental European decoration. Asymmetric compositions, strong contrast of light, dark, and bold illusion effects characterize baroque style. This style originated from Italy and came to ...
The Japanese had a benefit over the art of painting because until modern times, they wrote with a brush rather than a pen, and their familiarity with brush techniques made them particularly sensitive to painterly values. The Japanese paintings can be identified for their simplicity and for its colorful exuberance. The western world has been considerably influenced in the 19th c with this form of art. .
References
• Ichitaro, Kondo. Japanese Genre Painting: The Lively Art of Renaissance Japan. Trans. Miller, Roy Andrew. Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1961
• Grillie, Elise. Japanese Picture scrolls. New York: Crown publishers, Inc, 1958.
• Yukio, Yashiro. 2000 Years of Japanese Art. London: Thames and Hudson, 1958.
• Mizou, Hiroshi. Edo Painting: Sotatsu and Korin. New York: Weatherhill Publisher, 1972
