ANCIENT TIMES
The Jomon people (10,000 BC
- 300 BC), the first settlers of Japan, made clay figures
(dogu) which mainly represented women. The Yayoi people (300 BC
- 300 AD), a different immigrant people, made copper
weapons, bronze bells with stick figures drawn on them and kiln-fired
ceramics. Bronze mirrors and clay sculptures, which were placed outside of
tombs, and murals decorating the inside of the tombs are contributions from the
Kofun period (300 - 710 AD).
The stick figures on bells and the
murals inside tombs are considered to be the earliest forms of Japanese
painting.
THE INFLUENCE OF BUDDHISM AND CHINA
With the arrival of Buddhism from
Korea and China there was a movement toward painting, especially with the ruling
class taking such interest in the Buddhist culture and religion. Painting
during the seventh and eight centuries mimicked styles started in China with
illustrations of Buddha's life and other deities of Buddhism. Painting
became greatly affected by Joko Shinko (Pure Land Buddhism) after the tenth
century.
With the ruling class'
encouragement, construction was started in different areas for temples and
monastic compounds during the sixth and seventh centuries. Buddhist art
was commissioned for the temples, especially in the halls and chapels.
Some examples are Asukadera, Shitennoji and Horyuji. Some of the most
important paintings of this period can be found in Horyuji's Golden Hall which
contains murals. In the temples there are also sculptures that represent
the various Buddhas and other deities.
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Yamato-e started to replace the
Chinese painting style in the middle of the Heian period. This style can
be found on sliding and folding screen and it shows or depicts the Kyoto
scenery. The album leaf and the illustrated handscroll (emaki) are two
types of painting formats that came along at the same time. The most
famous emaki painting can be found in the Tales of Genji (published circa 1130).
With power changing to the samurai
from the nobility, the nobility managed to keep a vast amount of their wealth
and were patrons of different styles of art. Typical examples of the
nobilities taste in art can be found in conservatism. This along with
realism, the samurais choice of art, were two major trends found in the Kamakura
period (1185-1333).
The introduction of architecture
and artistic work different from that of other sects came about with Zen
Buddhism in the thirteenth century. Ink painting became the art style of
choice in the prominent Zen monasteries of Kamakura and Kyoto, thus taking over
scroll painting styles. Plain and severe monochrome styles were preferred
by Zen painters and their patrons with it's introduction from Sung (960-1279)
and Yuan (1279-1368), China. Near the end of 1400, these painters
(and patrons) began to prefer monochrome landscape painting (suibokuga).
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THE EDO PERIOD (1600-1868)
With the Tokugawa Shogunate's
coming into power in 1600, there was brought stability, both economically and
politically, and peace. With merchants getting wealthier in Edo (Tokyo)
and Kyoto, they started taking over cultural activities.
Paintings from the Kan'ei period (1624-1644) depict
people from every class of society crowding the entertainment district beside
Kyoto's Kamogawa river. Similar districts existed in Osaka and Edo, where
the uninhibited lifestyle of the ukiyo (floating world) transpired. It
ultimately came to be glorified by the art genre know as ukiyo-e. These
ukiyo-e, which often featured brothel districts and kabuki theater, gained
popularity through the country. First produced in the form of paintings,
by the early eighteenth century, ukiyo-e were most commonly produced as
woodblock prints. Among the first types of printed ukiyo-e were
sensual pictures and manuals.
By late in the century, the core activity of ukiyo-e
had moved from the Kyoto-Osaka area to Edo, where portrayals of kabuki actors
became standard subject matter. The public also showed great fondness for
ukiyo-e featuring beautiful women.
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By the late eighteenth century, ukiyo-e had entered
its golden age. Feminine beauty and especially the tall, graceful
women who appeared in the work of Torii Kiyonaga was a dominant theme in the
1780's. After 1790 came a repid succession of new styles, introduced by
artists who are well known today: Kitagawa Utamaro, Toshusau Sharaku, Katsushika
Hokusai, Ando Hiroshige, and Utagawa Kuniyoshi, to single out but a few.
For some Westerners, including the greatest artists
in Europe in the late nineteenth century, ukiyo-e was more than merely an exotic
art form. Artist such as Edgar Degas and Vincent Van Gogh borrowed its
stylistic composition, perspectives and use of color. Frequent use of
themes from nature, which had been rare in Western art, wiedened painter'
selection of themes. Emile Galle, a French artist and glass designer, used
Hokusai's sketches of fish in the decoration of his vases.
With the advent of the Meiji period (1868-1912) and
its policy of Westernization, ukiyo-e, which had always been closely linked to
the culture from which it drew its themes and vitality, began to die out
quickly.
Meanwhile, European painting influenced a growing
number of Japanese painters late in the Edo period. Major artist such as
Maruyama Okyo, Matsumura Goshun, and Ito Jakuchu combined aspects of Japanese,
Chinese and Western styles.
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MODERN TIMES
Culture in Japan underwent a rather dramatic
transformation during the Meiji period, when Western technologies and concepts
of government began to be studied and, where appropriate, adapted for the good
of the nation. In the course of this program of modernization,
Western0style painting received official sanction and the government sent a
number of painters overseas to study.
After some decades of rivalry between traditional
Japanese style and the new Western-style painting, the Taisho period (1912-1926)
was one in which Western influence on the arts expanded greatly. Painters
such as Umehara Ryuzaburo and Yasui Sotaro studied and promoted the styles of
Paul Cezanne, Pierre Auguste Renoir and Camille Pissarro.
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The in pre-World War II years, however, Yasui and
Umehara cast of the mostly derivative character of Western-style painting in
Japan. Umehara stands out for having brought to his work elements of
Japanese style, an innovation reversal that encouraged other Western-style
painters in Japan to become more interpretative.
The modernizing of Japanese painting continued under
the guidance of Yasuda Tukiiko and Kobayashi Kokei. Other painters tried
to spread interest in Japanese-style painting by adopting popular themes and
giving exhibitions more frequently.
In was early in the twentieth century that
authentic interest in Western-style sculptures gained momentum, when artists
returned to Japan from study abroad. Representative of those sculptors was
Ogiwara Morie, who introduced the style of Auguste Rodin and became the pioneer
in the modernization of Japanese sculpture. Another influential sculptor
was Takamura Kotaro who, as an outstanding poet as well, translated Rodin's views
on art.
Following the unproductive years of World War II,
art in Japan rapidly regained its originality. Western artistic trends,
after the war, found a quick reception in Japan, including such developments and
pop and op art, primary structure, minimal art, kinetic art, and assemblage.
Having traditionally taken their lead from the art
of other cultures, Japanese artists are now finding their own expression as
original creators and contributors to the world art community.
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