Japan is a centuries-old country filled with varied stories of
conquests and victories, isolation and cultural changes. Although Japan’s history dates back before
the 1400s, from the 1400s to the mid 1500s the country was involved in several
Civil wars. Powerful warriors called
Daimyo took control of large parts of the islands. The Daimyo built strong castles and fought
with small armies. Eventually, in the
mid 1500s, a powerful Daimyo named Toyotomi Hideyoshi brought Japan under one
rule. Later, Tokugawa Ieyasu unified
Japan and established Edo as the capital.
Edo later became known as Tokyo.
Ieyasu’s descendants ruled Japan for centuries.
By the mid 1500s, the people of the known world of Europe had begun to
discover and explore new areas. India became
a center of trade for Europe and Columbus’s voyage had ushered in a wave of
bolder explorers ready to take on the world.
Europeans arrived in Japan in the mid 1500s. Their presence was welcomed until
Christianity began to spread through Japan, and then leaders became worried so
Japan was closed to all but the Chinese and the Dutch for the next 200 years.
Japanese artisans reacted to the changes in their country. For centuries, traditional culture was most
popular in all areas of the arts. As time went by and cultural influences
changed, bigger cities had new styles of art emerge. Kabuki theater dramas became popular and Hung
Woodblock prints of city scenes became more popular (Owens 3).
The very earliest pieces of Japanese art are
mostly “monochrome pottery” with designs (Columbia University Press 1,2). Other early pieces are jewelry and clay
figurines. In the 6th Century,
Buddhists and Chinese influences on art led to Buddhist sculptures and pictures
of Divinities and Legendary Figures (Columbia University Press 1,2). Eventually, crushed mineral pigments made their way into Japanese
paintings. This emergence of color was
established and monochrome pottery was a technique of the past (Sakura 1,2). Later in the 8th Century,
“traditional technical methods of Japanese painting was established” (Columbia
University Press 1,2). These paintings
were on gauzelike or soft-paper using Chinese Ink and Watercolors. These painting would be hung on scroll called
a Kakemono. This would be unrolled when
on view for an audience, and rolled up when not on display (Columbia University
Press 1,2). In the 11th
Century, the first native, chief painter became well known in Japan. His name was Kanaoka. He has a famous scroll called, “The Tale of
Genji.” It had rich color and it
featured men and women in “refinement of the court during that period” (Columbia
University Press 1,2).
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The
medium of this painting is Polychrome Woodblock and Ink and Color on
Paper. It is one of the thirty-six
pieces that illustrates the thirty-six views from Mount Fuji. It is a smaller painting at 10x 15 inches. In
“The Great Wave,” there are three boats, known as Oshiokuribune in Japanese, which
are about to be swallowed by the raging, shattering waves (Kinsner
1). The
boats themselves have been painted in such a way that they take the form of the
waves themselves. As the turbulence of
the waves knocks the boats every which way, the human aboard those boats are
tossed off into the dangerous, angry sea. There is a very strong use of lines and curves. Lines extend past the piece itself. It gives off a feeling and sensation of motion throughout the masterpiece to the audience. Hokusai
utilizes the use of cool colors with blues being the most predominant colors
used. Also, he uses the warm color of
yellow in the horizon into the background.
There is a striking contrast of the white of the breaking wave and the
dark of the under current. Its as if the
darkness is going to envelop the large boats and their crew. The artwork
achieves equilibrium as it is balanced.
There is a balance between the turbulence of the wave the calmness and
serenity of Mount Fuji the background. This piece contains a strong focal area. This focal area is the illustrated by the
claw-like waves about to devour the fishing boats. This piece has a strong sense of
perspective. According to Kinsner, “In
the foreground, a small peaked wave forms a miniature Mt. Fuji, which is
reflected hundreds of miles away in the enormous Mt. Fuji, which shrinks
through perspective; the wavelet is larger than the mountain. Instead of
shoguns and nobility, we see tiny fishermen huddled into their sleek crafts;
they slide down a seamount and dive straight into the wave to make it to the
other side. The yin violence of Nature is dismissed by the yang-relaxed
confidence of expert fishermen. Oddly, though it's a sea storm, the sun is
shining” (1) and (Andreas 1). The element of chiaroscuro is present within
this work of art as the waves display both black and
blue hues to give it a three-dimensional feel.
The tension of the claw-like wave is better brought to life by the use
of these elements of color and chiaroscuro.
According to Sporre, “Pictures can stimulate a sense of movement and
activity” (64). This is obvious in
Hokusai’s art piece. The violence of the
waves is jagged lines that “create a much more dynamic and violent sensation”
(Sporre 64). Overall this masterpiece is
a marvelous piece depicting the power and strength of nature. This is obvious as Mount Fuji is represented
much smaller than that of the waves (Kinsner 1).
At
the same time period of Hoausai, the style of Rimpa became an important style
of Japanese culture. It wove itself into
every part of life, including painting (Cotter 1). According to a New York Times columnist, “the
Rimpa version of nature is often highly stylized, posed, poeticized,
simultaneously abstracted into ornamental patterns and rendered with
fantastically detailed accuracy” (Cotter 1).
This
school of Rimpa is evident in the screen painting, ”Fujin- Raijin” by, Tawaraya
Sotatsu. This translates to “Wind
God-Thunder God.” It is considered one
of his masterpieces. These screens would
be decoration in the main room of the home.
This room would commonly be facing the garden (Davreux 1). Fujin is the Japanese god of the wind. He is also one of the oldest of the Shinto
gods. He was said to be a part of the
creation of the world, “and when he first let the winds out of his bag, they
cleared the morning mists and filled the Gate between heaven and earth so the
sun shone” (Davreux 1). Fuijin is shown
a frightening, devil-like figure, on the right, with a large bag on his
shoulders. Raijin, on the left, is a god
of thunder and lightning in Japanese Mythology (Davreux 1). He got
his name from the Japanese word “rai” meaning thunder and “shin” meaning
god. Normally, Raijin is depicted as a
demon beating on his drums in order to create the resounding sound of thunder
with the symbol tomoe drawn in the drums (Davreux 1).
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The
artist uses lines as an edge to show “where one object stops and another
begins” (Sporre 53). There are
definite lines showing where the figures of the two gods begin and end. ”Fujin- Raijin” depicts predominantly warm
colors, like, yellows, oranges, and reds.
There are no cool colors besides the green Fujin’s body and Raijin
garments. This screen painting is symmetrical
and balanced with the characters giving equal weight to both sides. No one character dominates the scene more
than another. To strengthen the feeling
of symmetry, Raijin has a white body with a smaller use of green in his
garments, while Fuijin has a green body and a smaller piece of material, a bag
in this painting that is white. The use
of colors for each character is a brilliant example of the use of symmetry
brought about by the use of color. ”Fujin-
Raijin” offers no scene of perspective because all the action is seen without
benefit of a foreground or background.
Instead, he artist uses negative space in center and bottom. However, it does offer a dynamic scene in
that, both characters are looking towards the center and their actions seem to be fixed on whatever may
be below them (Davreux 1).
Later, as Europeans were permitted on Japanese shores, they had an influence on Japan’s culture. As the European’s attempted to spread Christianity, they were forced out of Japan (Owens 3).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPFKIIBTOts&list=PL987BCADD05EBEBBB&index=26
Another artist of this thriving artistic time in Asia was Kano Naizen. One of his greatest pieces was a screen painting called “Southern Barbarians Come To Trade” (CHRISTIE'S 1). The use of screens as a platform for art was a relatively new discovery and had not been published before this time. The screens illustrate a narrative of the “dynamic conflation of East and West around 1600” (CHRISTIE'S 1). This particular piece of art is composed of two screens. On the left screen is a ship, known as the kurofune, setting sail from an unknown foreign land. It is said that that land was to be China (CHRISTIE'S 1). On the right screen, is another ship of the same form, unloading cargo in the port of Nagasaki on the West Coast of Kyushu. This is the southernmost area of the four main islands of Japan (10). In 1543 through 1570, Portuguese traders used the Bay of Nagasaki as the harbor for the center of their commerce. Japanese referred to the Portuguese as Southern Barbarians riding on the ship of the Nanban, kurofune (CHRISTIE'S 1).. Anyone not from that area of japan was considered a barbarian at this time. After an uprising in 1638 by Christian converts, the Portuguese were expelled by the Tokugawa government in 1639.
Later, as Europeans were permitted on Japanese shores, they had an influence on Japan’s culture. As the European’s attempted to spread Christianity, they were forced out of Japan (Owens 3).
Another artist of this thriving artistic time in Asia was Kano Naizen. One of his greatest pieces was a screen painting called “Southern Barbarians Come To Trade” (CHRISTIE'S 1). The use of screens as a platform for art was a relatively new discovery and had not been published before this time. The screens illustrate a narrative of the “dynamic conflation of East and West around 1600” (CHRISTIE'S 1). This particular piece of art is composed of two screens. On the left screen is a ship, known as the kurofune, setting sail from an unknown foreign land. It is said that that land was to be China (CHRISTIE'S 1). On the right screen, is another ship of the same form, unloading cargo in the port of Nagasaki on the West Coast of Kyushu. This is the southernmost area of the four main islands of Japan (10). In 1543 through 1570, Portuguese traders used the Bay of Nagasaki as the harbor for the center of their commerce. Japanese referred to the Portuguese as Southern Barbarians riding on the ship of the Nanban, kurofune (CHRISTIE'S 1).. Anyone not from that area of japan was considered a barbarian at this time. After an uprising in 1638 by Christian converts, the Portuguese were expelled by the Tokugawa government in 1639.
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In this screen painting, Naizen uses line in a particular way, in
which objects illustrated start and end.
Each character, object, and figure within the painting has a place and
situated accordingly. The use of color is dynamic throughout the large
painting. There is an array of warm colors with the landscape being a yellow
and the garments of the figure on land being reds and oranges. There is also use of cool colors is depicted
with the color of the sea and the greenery found in the landscape. There is also a sense of balance between the
two screens. On both ends of each screen
is a ship, the kurofune. Within the center of the screens is a lot of
action that illustrates what was occurring at the trading ports of the
bays. No side dominates over
another. The left screen has a ship on
the left portion and a lot of people surrounding the ship setting sail, while
the right screen depicts a city of the port and another ship in the right
portion. The colors and objects are
balanced in such a way that allows the viewer to really look at the intricate
detail of the entire painting itself and the story it is telling. As for a
focal point, there is no one focal point within the large screen painting. The screen painting is a representation of a
story and it is a long illustration of the history of the Portuguese traders
coming to the Bay of Nagasaki. It’s a
beautiful and elaborate storyline by this great artist. The storyline allows the eye to not just
focus on one area of the screen, but to start at the beginning of the screen on
the left and finish the story on the most right portion. As
common in Chinese landscape art, shifting perspective is apparent. This type of perspective refers to the
technique of dividing the paper into two basic units. These two basic units are the foreground and
the background (Sporre 60). It is in this
screen painting that Naizan utilized shifting perspective. According to Sporre, “The foreground of the
painting consists of details reaching back toward the middle ground. At this point a division occurs, so that the
background and the foreground separate by an openness…[As] a break appears, the
background seems to [reveal] upward or to be suspended, as if a separate entity”
(60). Shifting Perspective “reveals each
part almost as though the viewer were walking through the lands. [This] allows for a personal journey and can
lead to a strong personal, spiritual impact on the viewer” (Sporre 60).
In
conclusion, the history of Japanese art is a story that goes back many
centuries in history. Japanese art from
the 1400s to the 1800s includes traditional influences from past generations as
well as the influence of European travelers who changed Japanese culture and,
therefore, the world of artists in Japan.
Artists were able to develop new techniques that would later influence
great masters of art in the future. Artists
and their work often reflect the culture of the world around them. Japanese art was a direct visual of the
happenings and occurrences within Asia and areas around it. From the use of albums, fans, and hand
scrolls to the use of screens and hanging scrolls, Japan emerged as a very
influential, artistic country of its time.
All in all, Japan and its vast impact on the artistic realm is still
recognizable to this day.
Works Cited
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