AsianInfo.org supports I.C.E.Y. - H.O.P.E. (non-profit org)
(International Cooperation of Environmental Youth - Helping Our Polluted Earth) Any advertisement you view helps save the environment!  Thanks!

 

Countries / Regions


 

Viewer's Corner

 
Publish your story on AsianInfo.org - Personal experiences, opinions, articles, or any information related to Asia.  More Info...

 

Asianinfo Photo Gallery
Photos of Asia now available for purchase 

FREE Photos available!

IMG_0122 copy.JPG (69431 bytes)
Korea

Thailand

Indonesia


Malaysia

Hong Kong


Singapore

Japan

Shanghai


USA

Israel

 
 


Summary of Japanese Art

Japanese Art

 

 

 

 

 

dramatic_couple.jpg (26970 bytes)

restaurant_japanese-art.jpg (24571 bytes)

asian_actor2.jpg (16344 bytes)


AsianInfo.org supports I.C.E.Y. - H.O.P.E. (non-profit org)
(International Cooperation of Environmental Youth - Helping Our Polluted Earth) Any advertisement you view helps save the environment!  Thanks!



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.

S0047.jpg (105920 bytes)

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.

Back to Top

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).

Back to Top


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.

Back to Top

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.

Back to Top


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.

Back to Top

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. 

Back to Top

Other Related Sites...

 

 
 
 
Cheap Airline Tickets

Discount Hotels

Rental Car Deals

 


 

 
 
 
 
 
 

Disclaimer:  AsianInfo.org does not guarantee the complete accuracy of the information provided on this site or links.  Do your own research and get a professional's opinion before adhering to advice or information contained herein.  Use of the information contained herein provided by AsianInfo.org and any mistakes contained within are at the individual risk of the user. 

(We do not provide links to, or knowingly promote, any violent or pornographic sites.)


Suggestions  |  Organization Info  |  Become a Sponsor Privacy Statement

 Copyright © 2010 AsianInfo.org - All Rights Reserved.- Copyright Policy