Japanese Art After 1392Will Conway

Megan SheppardAshley Wong

Muromachi Period

1392-1573

Important Historical Events

• Power of emperor and court gave way to rule by warriors (samurai) in 12th century

• Shogun = military dictator• Beginning in 1338, Ashikaga family occupied the

position of shogun for 150 years– Moved capital to Kyoto– reunited northern and southern Japan

• 1467-77 Onin Wars– Civil war between daimyo (provincial warlords) and shogun– Destruction of Kyoto and end of shogunate’s power

Stylistic Influences

• Period is marked by ascendance of Zen Buddhism– Patronized by the samurai– Became dominant cultural force in Japan– Focus on meditation enlightenment

• Cultural influences from China and Korea

Period Characteristics

• High levels of sophistication in both religious and secular arts

• Natural materials• Asymmetry• Sense of humor• Tolerance for paradoxical/contradictory

characteristics

Ink Painting

• Monochrome painting in black ink and diluted grays

• Most popular visual art during time period• Influenced by Zen painting• Earlier Zen tradition, painting depicts monks

and teachers• Now, Chinese-style ink landscapes

Shubun and Bunsei

Shubun 1418-63• First great master of ink landscape• Monk-artist• No surviving worksBunsei 1450-60 • Shubun’s pupil• Two landscapes survived

• Bunsei• Landscape• Muromachi period• Mid-15th Century• Ink on paper

• Bunsei- Landscape• Mid-15th Century

• Limbourg Brothers- Book of Hours: Tres Riches Heures

• 1413-1416

Sesshu

• By 1600, there were monks that specialized in art

• Sesshu was most famous monk-artist (1420-1506)

• Visited China in 1467 – saw landscape and Chinese artists

• Returned to Japan in midst of Onin Wars• Led to violent feeling in landscapes

• Sesshu• Winter Landscape• Murumachi

period• 1470s• Ink on paper

Ikkyu

• 1394-1481• One of most famous Zen masters in Japanese history• Derided the Zen of his day• Success was distorting spirit of Zen

– Used to be form of counterculture• Zen monks act as government advisers, teachers• Known for his calligraphy

• Ikkyu• Calligraphy Couplet• Muromachi period• Mid-15th century• Ink on paper

• Tugra of Sultan Suleyman

• C. 1555-60• Used as

propaganda for sultan

Islamic Calligraphy

Zen Dry Garden

• Karesansui – dry landscape gardens exist In perfect harmony with Zen Buddhism

• Simple tasks (e.g. weeding the garden) are occasions for meditation in search for enlightenment

• Began to be built in 15th and 16th centuries• Influenced by Chinese landscape painting

• Rock Garden• Ryoan-ji, Kyoto• Muromachi

period• 1480

Momoyama Period

1568-1615

Stylistic Influences

• Continuing influence of China and Korea• 1453 arrival of Portuguese and Dutch

merchants and Catholic missionaries • New awareness of different religions• New technologies

– Introduction of firearms– Led to fortified castles

• New markets and goods

Important Historical Events• Onin Wars showed flaw in Ashikaga system

– Samurai were primarily loyal to feudal lord, daimyo, rather than central government

• Oda Nobunaga (1534-82) invaded Kyoto, signaled end of Ashikaga family’s power

• Succeeded by Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1437-98)• 1600 stable government emerged finally under

Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616)

Period Characteristics

• Characterized by a robust, opulent, and dynamic style with gold decoration

• Also supported a counter-aesthetic of rustic simplicity– e.g. tea ceremony

Architecture

• Introduction of European muskets and cannons

• Led to monumental fortified castles• Built in late 16th century• Large buildings on top of hills or

mountainsides

• Himeji Castle• Hyogo, Japan

(near Osaka)• Momoyama

period• 1601-1609

• Chateau de Chenonceau• France, 1513-21• built with idea of regularity and symmetry

Kano School Decorative Painting

• Castles were lavishly decorated• Artists now underwent formal training• Professional school of artists founded by Kano

family• combined ink-painting tradition with new

skills in decorative subjects and styles• School was patronized by government leaders

for several centuries

Kano Eitoku

• 1543-90• From Kano School of Painting• Vigorous use of brush and ink• Powerful jagged outlines• Dramatic compositions• Similar to Sesshu• Bold sense of scale

• Kano Eitokku• Fusuma• Momoyama Period• 1563-73• Ink and gold on paper

Tea Ceremony

• Interest in the quiet, restrained, natural expressed through tea ceremony

• Advent of Zen brought Japan new way of preparing tea– Crushed leaves into power, then whisked in bowls

with hot water– Considered form of medicine and aid for

meditation

Sen No Rikyu

• 1522-91• Most famous tea master in Japanese history• Conceived of tea ceremony as intimate

gathering • A small rustic room to drink tea and to discuss

tea utensils or a Zen scroll• Aesthetic of modesty, refinement, rusticity

Tearoom Architecture• Small and simple• Made of natural materials like bamboo and wood• Mud walls• Paper windows• Floor covered with tatami- mats of woven straw• Tokonoma- alcove where a Zen scroll or simple

flower arrangement may be displayed• Sense of irregularity• Tearoom aesthetic = important element in Japanese

culture, influencing secular architecture

• Sen no Rikyu• Tai-an Tearoom• Momyama period• 1582

Edo Period

1615-1868

Important Historical Events

• Era when Tokugawa Ieyasu’s family controlled shogunate

• Lasted more than 250 years• Peace and prosperity • increasingly rigid and repressive government• New capital Edo (Tokyo)• Cut off from rest of the world by government

– Japanese were forbidden to travel abroad– Foreigners not permitted in Japan

Edo Society

• Zen Buddhism supplanted by neo-Confucianism– Philosophy originated in China– Stressed loyalty to state

• Society divided into 4 classes– Samurai officials, farmers, artisans, merchants

• Merchants began to control money supply• Reading and writing became widespread• Many segments of population were able to

patronize artists

• Appreciation for tea ceremony- including the utensils• Raku ware = hand-built, low-fired ceramic developed

especially for use in tea ceremony• Inspired by Korean-style rice bowls made for

peasants• Beauty of teabowl considered by characteristics:

– How well it fits into the hands– How shape and texture of bowl appealed to the eye– Who had previously used and admired it

Tea Ceramics

• Hon’ami Koetsu• Teabowl, called Mount Fuji• Edo period• Early 17th century• Raku ware

Rimpa School of Painting

• Grouping of artists with similar tastes rather than a formal school

• Excelled in decorative designs of expressive force

• Worked in several mediums• Considered quintessentially Japanese in spirit

– Expressive power of art– Use of poetic themes from Japan’s past

Tawaraya Sotatsu

• 1600-50• First great painter of Rimpa school• Painted golden screens• Boldly decorative style• Asymmetrical and almost abstract patterns of

waves, pines, island forms

• Tawaraya Sotatsu

• Pair of Six-Panel Screens, known as the Matsushima Screens

• Edo Period• 17th century• Ink, mineral

colors, and gold leaf on paper

Nanga School of Painting• Painters that responded to new Confucian

atmosphere• Took up Chinese literati painters’ ideas• Name comes from southern school of amateur

artists described by Chinese literati theorist Dong Qichang

• Painters are individualists, own variations of literati paintings

• Blended Chinese models, Japanese aesthetics and personal brushwork

• Uragami Gyokudo

• Geese Aslant in the High Wind

• Edo Period• 1817• Ink and light

colors on paper

Zen Painting

• Without support of government, Zen painting initially went into decline but was revived by Hakuin Ekaku (1685-1769)

• Important teacher who used painting and calligraphy as forms of Zen expression

• Favorite subject was Daruma (Bodhidharma)- Indian monk who began Zen tradition

• Hakuin Ekaku• Bodhidharma

Meditating• Edo period• 18th century• Ink on paper

Maruyama-Shijo School Painting

• Merchants wanted to display increasing wealth- demand for golden screens and other decorative arts

• Maruyama-Shijo School, founded by Maruyama Okyo (1733-95)

• Okyo studied Western-style “perspective pictures”• Incorporated shading and perspective• New sense of volume• Portrayed subjects like birds, animals, hills, trees• Suited tastes of emerging upper middle class

• Maruyama Okyo• Pine Tree in Snow• Edo Period• 1765• Hanging scroll, ink and

color on silk

• Nagasawa Rosetsu• Bull and Puppy• Edo period • 18th century

Ukiyo-E

• Prosperity --> Pleasure• Ukiyo- “floating world” (enjoy life to fullest)• Ukiyo-E- woodblock prints created for

common people• Suzuki Harunobu (1724-70)

– First to design prints to be printed in many colors– Portrayals of feminine beauty

• Suzuki Harunobu• Geisha as Daruma

Crossing the Sea• Edo period• Mid-18th century• Polychrome

woodblock print on paper

Hiroshige and Hokusai• During 19th century, landscape became major theme

in woodblock prints• Not idealized landscape of China but actual sights of

Japan• Two great masters: Hiroshige (1797-1858) and

Hokusai (1760-1849)• Hiroshige- Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido• Hokusai- Thirty-Six Views of Mt. Fuji• Most successful sets of graphic art the world has

known

• Katsushika Hokusai• The Great Wave• From Thirty-Six Views of

Mt. Fuji• Edo period• 1831• Polychrome woodblock

print on paper

Meiji and Modern Periods

1868-Present

Important Historical Events

• Mid-19th century strong pressure from West for entry into Japan

• 1853 policy of national seclusion ended• Led to downfall of Tokugawa shogunate• 1868 emperor restored to power (Meiji

Restoration)• Court moved from Kyoto to Edo, renamed

Tokyo

Meiji Period• Marked major change for Japan• Influx of West

– Western education, governmental systems, clothing, medicine, industrialization, technology

• Ernest Fenollosa (1853-1908)- American who traveled to teach at Tokyo University– Urged artists to study traditional Japanese arts rather than

focus exclusively on Western art styles – Yokoyama Taikan (1868-1958) developed style within

Japanese painting genre– Drew from Japanese and Western tradition

• Yokoyama Taikan• Floating Lights• Meiji period• 1909• Pair of hanging scrolls, ink,

colors, gold on silk

Modern Japan

• Push to become a modern industrialized country

• Did not lose sense of tradition• Japanese art today has both Western and

native aspects

• Miyashita Zenji

• Wind• 1989• Stoneware

• Chuichi Fujii• Untitled ’90• 1990• Cedar wood

• Takashi Murakami• Magic Ball (Positive)• 1999• Seven panels, acrylic on canvas