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ART a Legacy Spanning Two Millennia

ART a Legacy Spanning Two Millennia

For more detailed information Japanese government policy and other such matters, see the following home pages. Ministry of Foreign Affairs Website http://www.mofa.go.jp/ Web http://web-japan.org/ A legacy spanning two millennia

Scroll A scene from the 12th-century Tale of Genji Scrolls (), which portray events from the 11th-century novel Tale of Genji. Treasure. ©

iverse factors have contributed to the the beginning of the era, manufactured copper Ddevelopment of . Both weapons, , and kiln-fired . technologically and aesthetically, it has for Typical artifacts from the () many centuries been influenced by Chinese period (approximately a.d. 300 to a.d. 710) styles and cultural developments, some of that followed, are bronze mirrors, and which came . More recently, Western called , which were erected techniques and artistic values have also added outside of tombs. their impact. The simple stick figures drawn on dotaku, However, what emerged from this history bells produced in the , as as of assimilated ideas and know-how from other the adorning the inside walls of tombs cultures is an indigenous expression of taste in the , represent the origins of that is uniquely Japanese. . Haniwa Haniwa are unglazed earthenware sculptures The Influence of that were paced on Ancient Times and around the great and mounded tombs (kofun) The first settlers of Japan, the Jomon people of Japan's rulers during the 4th to 7th centuries. (roughly 10,000 b.c. to 300 b.c.), crafted Painting began to flourish in the sixth © National Museum clay called dogu, many of which century, when the ruling class took great represented women. Afterwards, the Yayoi interest in Buddhism and Buddhist culture, people (approximately 300 b.c. to a.d. 300), which had arrived from Korea and China. whose core was a different immigrant group in preserved from the late seventh and

ART 1 early eighth centuries were executed in styles developed in China in the late period of the Six (222–589). They illustrate the life of Buddha and depict other Buddhist . After the tenth century, painting became increasingly influenced by Jodo Shinko ( Buddhism). With impetus from the ruling class, temples A group of gilt-bronze and monastic compounds were constructed gate of Todaiji and the wooden sculptures of figurines in various locations from the late sixth to the two Indian sages, Muchaku and Seshin, at The miraculous birth of the historical Buddha early seventh century. Notable examples are . from the sleeve of Queen Asukadera, Shitennoji, and Horyuji. In the Buddhism, which spread in the (second from right). interior of these temple ­complexes, specially thirteenth century, introduced Early 7th century. Height (of Queen Maya) 17 cm. the halls and chapels, a substantial amount of and artistic works significantly different Shijuhattai Butsu was commissioned. The murals from those of other sects. In the fourteenth (48 Buddhas) collection. © in Horyuji’s Kondo (Golden Hall) are some of century, scroll painting largely gave way to the most important paintings of the period. We ink painting, which took root in the prominent can also see sculptures representing various Zen of and . Buddhas, , and guardian deities Zen painters—and more importantly, their in these temples. Prime among them is the patrons—showed a preference for an austere Shaka Trinity, a housed at Horyuji. monochrome style, as introduced from Sung By the middle of the (794 (960–1279) and (1279–1368) China. By –1185), a clearly indigenous style, called the end of the , Zen painters and their yamato-e, had begun to replace Chinese modes patrons in Kyoto had developed a preference of painting. Yamato-e depicts the scenery for monochrome , called around Kyoto, and its earliest examples are suibokuga. Among those Zen painters was seen on sliding and folding screens. Along Sesshu, a priest who went to China and with this new, native style came two new studied Chinese paintings. formats for painting: the album leaf and the Painting in the late sixteenth century illustrated handscroll, called emaki. The Tale was dominated by the Kano school, which of Genji Scrolls (ca 1120) are the most famous enjoyed the backing of powerful sovereigns emaki. such as . It was a polychrome In the late twelfth century, although style that aimed for maximum effect in the power shifted remarkably from the nobility form of screen and wall painting. The most to the class, the nobility, as well as remarkable figure of the school was Kano the administrators of temples and shrines, Eitoku. The Kano school continued to expand continued to retain great wealth and remained its influence, and managed to establish itself as patrons of various genres of art. The as the painting academy of the Tokugawa (1185–1333), whose name Shogunate. Ogata Korin, who was active is taken from the place where the new seat of in the middle of the period, was also government was established, is characterized a celebrated Kano painter, famous for his by two major trends: , which aimed intelligent composition and novel design. to satisfy the taste of the samurai class, and conservatism, which epitomized the nobility’s The (1600–1868) taste in art. Realism is most manifest in the form of The came to power sculpture. , the most noted sculptor of in 1600 and succeeded in bringing peace and the Kei school (creators of a realistic sculptural stability to Japan, both economically and style), has among his most accomplished politically. As the merchants in Edo (later works the two guardian images at the Tokyo) and Kyoto became more and more

ART 2 wealthy under its regime, they began to take control of cultural activities. Paintings from the period called Kan’ei (1624­–1644) depicted people from every class of society crowding the entertainment district beside Kyoto’s Kamogawa river. Similar districts existed in and Edo, where the uninhibited lifestyle of the (floating ) transpired, that ultimately came to be glorified by the art genre known as ukiyo-e. These ukiyo-e, which often featured districts and theater, gained popularity throughout the country. First produced in the form of paintings, by the early eighteenth Ukiyo-e print An 18th-century woodblock century ukiyo-e were most commonly print by Kitagawa . produced as woodblock prints. © Tokyo National Museum Among the first types of printed ukiyo-e themes. Émile Gallé, a French artist and glass were sex manuals called (pornographic designer, used ’s sketches of fish in the pictures). These books or albums showed decoration of his vases. very explicit love scenes. There were also With the advent of the period (1868– picture books with commentary that contained 1912) and its policy of , ukiyo-e, portraits of the leading prostitutes of the time, which had been closely linked to the typically involved in some mundane activity culture from which it drew its themes and such as washing their hair. It is their poses or vitality, began to die out quickly. the draping of their that provides the Meanwhile, European painting influenced main focus of these scenes. a growing number of Japanese painters By late in the century, the core activity of late in the Edo period. Major artists such as ukiyo-e had moved from the Kyoto-Osaka Maruyama Okyo, Matsumura Goshun, and to Edo, where portrayals of kabuki Ito Jakuchu combined aspects of Japanese, actors became standard subject matter. The Chinese, and Western styles. public also showed great fondness for ukiyo-e featuring beautiful women. Modern Times By the late eighteenth century, ukiyo-e had entered its golden age. Feminine beauty, Culture in Japan underwent a rather and especially the tall, graceful women who dramatic transformation during the Meiji appeared in the work of Kiyonaga, was a period, when Western technologies and dominant theme in the . After 1790 came concepts of government began to be studied a rapid succession of new styles, introduced and, where appropriate, adapted for the good by artists whose names are so well known of the . In the of this program today: Kitagawa Utamaro, Toshusai , of modernization, Western-style painting Hokusai, Ando , and received official sanction, and the government , to single out but a few. sent a number of painters overseas to study. For some Westerners, including the greatest After some decades of rivalry between artists in in the late nineteenth century, traditional Japanese-style and the new ukiyo-e was more than merely an exotic art Western-style painting, the Taisho period (1912­ form. Artists such as and Vincent –1926) was one in which Western influence van Gogh borrowed its stylistic composition, on the expanded greatly. Painters such as perspectives, and use of color. Frequent use Umehara Ryuzaburo and Yasui Sotaro studied of themes from nature, which had been rare and promoted the styles of Cezanne, in Western art, widened painters’ selection of Pierre Auguste Renoir, and .

ART 3 In the pre-World War II years, however, Yasui and Umehara cast off the mostly derivative character of Western-style painting in Japan. Umehara stands out for having brought to his work elements of Japanese style, an reversal that encouraged other Western-style painters in Japan to Ink painting become more interpretative. and assemblage. This landscape painting The modernizing of Japanese painting Having traditionally taken their lead from by Sesshu Toyo is titled ; it continued under the guidance of Yasuda the art of other cultures, Japanese artists are depicts the famous Yukihiko and Kobayashi Kokei. Other now finding their own expression as original scenic of that name. Ca 1501. National painters tried to spread interest in Japanese- creators and contributors to the world art Treasure. style painting by adopting popular themes community. To mention a couple: Okamoto © and giving exhibitions more frequently. Taro, who published his works at the 1953 It was early in the twentieth century that São Paulo Biennale and 1954 , authentic interest in Western-style sculptures and designed the symbol of the international gained momentum, when artists returned exposition held in Osaka in 1970, Taiyo no to Japan from study abroad. Representative To (Sun Tower); and Ikeda Masuo, who of those sculptors was Ogiwara Morie, who published many printed works full of introduced the style of Auguste Rodin and eroticism and irony, which established his became the pioneer in the modernization fame worldwide. Ikeda also won the Grand of Japanese sculpture. Another influential Prix for printmaking at the 1966 Venice sculptor was Takamura Kotaro who, as an Biennale. Additionally, Hirayama Ikuo is outstanding poet as well, translated Rodin’s highly respected for his pictures depicting views on art. Road landscapes filled with fantasy. Iwasaki Following the unproductive years of Chihiro, who painted pictures for children, World War II, art in Japan rapidly regained is widely acclaimed for her portraits of them. its originality. Western artistic trends, after Most of her pictures were painted for picture the war, found a quick reception in Japan, books, and these books are published in more including such developments as pop and op than 10 countries. art, primary structure, minimal art, kinetic art,

ART 4

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