Japanese art
History of art |
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Japanese art consists of a wide range of art styles and media that includes ancient pottery, sculpture, ink painting and calligraphy on silk and paper, ukiyo-e paintings and woodblock prints, ceramics, origami, bonsai, and more recently manga and anime. It has a long history, ranging from the beginnings of human habitation in Japan, sometime in the 10th millennium BCE, to the present day.
Japan has alternated between periods of exposure to new ideas, and long periods of minimal contact with the outside world. Over time the country absorbed, imitated, and finally assimilated elements of foreign culture that complemented already-existing aesthetic preferences. The earliest complex art in Japan was produced in the 7th and 8th centuries in connection with Buddhism. In the 9th century, as the Japanese began to turn away from China and develop indigenous forms of expression, the secular arts became increasingly important; until the late 15th century, both religious and secular arts flourished. After the Ōnin War (1467–1477), Japan entered a period of political, social, and economic turmoil that lasted for over a century. In the state that emerged under the leadership of the Tokugawa shogunate, organized religion played a much less important role in people's lives, and the arts that survived were primarily secular. The Meiji Period (1868–1912) saw an abrupt influx of Western styles, which have continued to be important.
Painting is the preferred artistic expression in Japan, practiced by amateurs and professionals alike. Until modern times, the Japanese wrote with a brush rather than a pen, and their familiarity with brush techniques has made them particularly sensitive to the values and aesthetics of painting. With the rise of popular culture in the Edo period, ukiyo-e, a style of woodblock prints, became a major form and its techniques were fine-tuned to create mass-produced, colorful pictures; in spite of painting's traditional pride of place, these prints proved to be instrumental in the Western world's 19th-century dialogue with Japanese art. The Japanese, in this period, found sculpture a much less sympathetic medium for artistic expression: most large Japanese sculpture is associated with religion, and the medium's use declined with the lessening importance of traditional Buddhism.
History
Jōmon art
The first settlers of Japan were the
Early Jōmon period
During the Early Jōmon period (5000–2500 BCE),[3] villages started to be discovered and ordinary everyday objects were found such as ceramic pots for boiling water. The pots found during this time had flat bottoms and elaborate designs made out of materials such as bamboo. It is believed that some early Jōmon figurines may have been used as fertility objects based on their breasts and broad hips.[3]
Middle Jōmon period
The Middle Jōmon period (2500–1500 BCE),[3] differed from the Early Jōmon Period in many ways. These people were less nomadic and began to settle in villages. They created useful tools that to process the food they gathered and hunted, which made life easier. Through the numerous aesthetically pleasing ceramics found during this period, it is evident that they had a stable economy and more leisure time. In addition, the people of the Middle Jōmon period differed from their ancestors in their development of vessels for specific functions, for example, pots for storage.[3] The decorations on these vessels were more realistic than those on early Jōmon ceramics.[3]
Late and Final Jōmon period
During the Late and Final Jōmon period (1500–300 BCE),[3] the weather grew colder, prompting settlers to move away from the mountains. The main food source was fish, which led them to develop fishing tools and techniques. In addition, the increase in the number of vessels suggests that each household had its own stock. Some vessels found during the Late and Final Jōmon Period were damaged which might indicate that they were used for rituals. In addition, figurines were found with distinctive fleshy bodies and goggle-like eyes.[3]
Dogū figurines
Yayoi art
The next wave of immigrants was the
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A Yayoi period dōtaku bell, 3rd century CE
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Ceramic jar from the Yayoi period
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Various ritual Yayoi potteries from Yoshinogari Site
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Yayoi storage jar from 500 BCE - 200 CE
Kofun art
The third stage in Japanese prehistory, the
Asuka and Nara art
During the
The transmission of Buddhism provided the initial impetus for contacts between China and Japan. The Japanese recognized the facets of
Throughout the 7th and 8th centuries, however, the major focus in contacts between Japan and the Asian continent was the development of Buddhism. Not all scholars agree on the significant dates and the appropriate names to apply to various time periods between 552, the official date of the introduction of Buddhism into Japan, and 784, when the Japanese capital was transferred from Nara. The most common designations are the Suiko period, 552–645; the Hakuhō period, 645–710, and the Tenpyō period, 710–784.
The earliest Japanese sculptures of the Buddha are dated to the 6th and 7th century. They illustrate the terminal point of the
The earliest Buddhist structures still extant in Japan, and the oldest wooden buildings in the
Inside the Kondō, on a large rectangular platform, are some of the most important sculptures of the period. The central image is a Shaka Trinity (623), the historical
Temple building in the 8th century was focused around the Tōdai-ji in Nara. Constructed as the headquarters for a network of temples in each of the provinces, the Tōdaiji is the most ambitious religious complex erected in the early centuries of Buddhist worship in Japan. Appropriately, the 16.2-m (53-ft) Buddha (completed 752) enshrined in the main Buddha hall, or Daibutsuden, is a Rushana Buddha, the figure that represents the essence of Buddhahood, just as the Tōdaiji represented the center for Imperially sponsored Buddhism and its dissemination throughout Japan. Only a few fragments of the original statue survive, and the present hall and central Buddha are reconstructions from the Edo period.
Clustered around the Daibutsuden on a gently sloping hillside are a number of secondary halls: the
Choukin (or chōkin), the art of metal engraving or sculpting, is thought to have started in the Nara period.[19][20]
Heian art
In 794 the capital of Japan was officially transferred to Heian-kyō (present-day
Early Heian art: In reaction to the growing wealth and power of organized
The temples erected for this new sect were built in the mountains, far away from the Court and the laity in the capital. The irregular topography of these sites forced Japanese architects to rethink the problems of temple construction, and in so doing to choose more indigenous elements of design. Cypress-bark roofs replaced those of ceramic tile, wood planks were used instead of earthen floors, and a separate worship area for the laity was added in front of the main sanctuary.
The temple that best reflects the spirit of early Heian Shingon temples is the
Fujiwara art: In the
The Hō-ō-dō (Phoenix Hall, completed 1053) of the
E-maki: In the last century of the Heian period, the horizontal, illustrated narrative handscroll, known as
E-maki also serve as some of the earliest and greatest examples of the
Kamakura art
In 1180, a war broke out between the two most powerful warrior clans: the
Sculpture: The
Calligraphy and painting: The
Thus, the Kegon Engi Emaki combines passages of text, written with a maximum of easily readable syllables, and illustrations that have the dialogue between characters written next to the speakers, a technique comparable to contemporary comic strips. The plot of the e-maki, the lives of the two Korean priests who founded the Kegon sect, is swiftly paced and filled with fantastic feats such as a journey to the palace of the Ocean King, and a poignant mom story.[clarification needed]
A work in a more conservative vein is the illustrated version of
Muromachi art
During the
Painting: Because of secular ventures and trading missions to China organized by Zen temples, many Chinese paintings and objects of art were imported into Japan and profoundly influenced Japanese artists working for Zen temples and the shogunate. Not only did these imports change the subject matter of painting, but they also modified the use of color; the bright colors of Yamato-e yielded to the
Typical of early Muromachi painting is the depiction by the priest-painter
The foremost artists of the Muromachi period are the priest-painters Shūbun and Sesshū. Shūbun, a monk at the Kyoto temple of Shōkoku-ji, created in the painting Reading in a Bamboo Grove (1446) a realistic landscape with deep recession into space. Sesshū, unlike most artists of the period, was able to journey to China and study Chinese painting at its source. Landscape of the Four Seasons (Sansui Chokan; c. 1486) is one of Sesshu's most accomplished works, depicting a continuing landscape through the four seasons.
Azuchi-Momoyama art
In the Azuchi–Momoyama period (1573–1603), a succession of military leaders, such as Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu, attempted to bring peace and political stability to Japan after an era of almost 100 years of warfare. Oda, a minor chieftain, acquired power sufficient to take de facto control of the government in 1568 and, five years later, to oust the last Ashikaga shōgun. Hideyoshi took command after Oda's death, but his plans to establish hereditary rule were foiled by Ieyasu, who established the Tokugawa shogunate in 1603.
Painting: The most important school of painting in the Momoyama period was that of the
Art of the Edo period
The Tokugawa shogunate gained undisputed control of the government in 1603 with a commitment to bring peace and economic and political stability to the country; in large measure it was successful. The shogunate survived until 1867, when it was forced to capitulate because of its failure to deal with pressure from Western nations to open the country to foreign trade. One of the dominant themes in the Edo period was the repressive policies of the shogunate and the attempts of artists to escape these strictures. The foremost of these was the closing of the country to foreigners and the accoutrements of their cultures, and the imposition of strict codes of behaviour affecting every aspect of life, the clothes one wore, the person one married, and the activities one could or should not pursue.
In the early years of the Edo period, however, the full impact of Tokugawa policies had not yet been felt, and some of Japan's finest expressions in architecture and painting were produced: Katsura Palace in Kyoto and the paintings of Tawaraya Sōtatsu, pioneer of the Rinpa school.
Woodblock printing: Woodblock prints were originally used to translate Buddhist scriptures in the eighth century in Japan. Woodblock printing consist of the engraving of images or pictures on a piece of wood, which is then pressed against a piece of paper. In the eighth century woodblock was considered a convenient method of the reproduction of printed text until further innovations allowed for color to be translated on paper or better known as Nishik-e prints. Wood block printing was the common method of printing from the eleventh until the nineteenth century. Nishiki-e prints produced goods such as calendars that were commonly sold to wealthy members of society during the Edo period. In the Edo period these prints were depicted events and scenes of prominent actors. Ukiyo then was associated to woodblock printing in the early Edo period. These Ukiyo paintings depicted daily lives of prominent members of society. Ukiyo first started out as hand sculpted scrolls depicted life as a normal commoner.
Architecture:
Painting: Sōtatsu evolved a superb decorative style by re-creating themes from classical literature, using brilliantly colored figures and motifs from the natural world set against gold-leaf backgrounds. One of his finest works is the pair of screens,
Sculpture: The Buddhist monk Enkū carved 120,000 Buddhist images in a rough, individual style.
Ukiyo-e and nanga (bunjinga)
The school of art best known in the West is that of the ukiyo-e paintings and woodblock prints of the demimonde, the world of the kabuki theater and the pleasure districts. Ukiyo-e prints began to be produced in the late 17th century; in 1765 Harunobu produced the first polychrome print. Print designers of the next generation, including Torii Kiyonaga and Utamaro, created elegant and sometimes insightful depictions of courtesans.
In the 19th century the dominant figures were Hokusai and Hiroshige, the latter a creator of romantic and somewhat sentimental landscape prints. The odd angles and shapes through which Hiroshige often viewed landscape, and the work of Kiyonaga and Utamaro, with its emphasis on flat planes and strong linear outlines, had a profound impact on such Western artists as Edgar Degas and Vincent van Gogh. Via artworks held in Western museums, these same printmakers would later exert a powerful influence on the imagery and aesthetic approaches used by early Modernist poets such as Ezra Pound, Richard Aldington and H.D.[21]
A school of painting contemporary with ukiyo-e was nanga, or bunjinga, a style based on paintings executed by Chinese scholar-painters. Just as ukiyo-e artists chose to depict figures from life outside the strictures of the Tokugawa shogunate, bunjin artists turned to Chinese culture. The exemplars of this style are Ike no Taiga, Yosa Buson, Tanomura Chikuden, and Yamamoto Baiitsu (ja:山本梅逸).
Ceramics
Traditional, mostly
The porcelain industry greatly expanded in the late 1650s, as the collapse of the Chinese industry from civil war led to very large orders from the Chinese traders and the Dutch East India Company, by then the traders only permitted to do business in Japan. The first great period of Japanese export porcelain lasted until about the 1740s, and the great bulk of Japanese porcelain was made for export, mostly to Europe, but also the Islamic world to the west and south of Japan.[23] Japanese pottery is among the finest in the world.[24][25]
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ewerwith bird and flower design in overglaze enamel, Edo period, 17th century
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Ko-Imaridish, 1700–1740
Lacquerware:
With the development of economy and culture, the artistic quality of lacquered furniture has improved.
Art of the Prewar period
When the Emperor of Japan regained ruling power in 1868, Japan was once again invaded by new and alien forms of culture. During the Prewar period, The introduction of Western cultural values led to a dichotomy in Japanese art, as well as in nearly every other aspect of culture, between traditional values and attempts to duplicate and assimilate a variety of clashing new ideas. This split remained evident in the late 20th century, although much synthesis had by then already occurred, and created an international cultural atmosphere and stimulated contemporary Japanese arts toward ever more innovative forms.
The government took an active interest in the art export market, promoting Japanese arts at a succession of world's fairs, beginning with the 1873 Vienna World's Fair.[28][29]
As well as heavily funding the fairs, the government took an active role organising how Japan's culture was presented to the world. It created a semi-public company — the Kiritsu Kosho Kaisha (First Industrial Manufacturing Company) — to promote and commercialize exports of art
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Byōbu Dragon and tiger (竜虎図) left side, 1895, by Hashimoto Gahō
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Byōbu Dragon and tiger right side, 1895, by Hashimoto Gahō
As Western imports became popular, demand for Japanese art declined within Japan itself.[34] In Europe and America, the new availability of Japanese art led to a fascination for Japanese culture; a craze known in Europe as Japonisme.[35] Imperial patronage, government sponsorship, promotion to new audiences, and Western technology combined to foster an era of Japanese artistic innovation. In the decorative arts, Japanese artists reached new levels of technical sophistication.[30]
Today, Masayuki Murata owns more than 10,000 Meiji art works and is one of the most enthusiastic collectors. From that time, most of the excellent works of Meiji Art were bought by foreign collectors and only a few of them remained in Japan, but because he bought back many works from foreign countries and opened the Kiyomizu Sannenzaka Museum,[36] the study and reevaluation of Meiji Art rapidly advanced in Japan from the 21st century.[37] Nasser Khalili is also one of the world's most dedicated collectors of Meiji art, and his collection encompasses many categories of Meiji art. The Japanese Imperial Family also owns excellent works of Meiji Art, some of which were donated to the state and are now stored in the Museum of the Imperial Collections.
Architecture and garden
By the early 20th century, European art forms were well introduced and their marriage produced notable buildings like the Tokyo Train Station and the National Diet Building that still exist today. Tokyo Station, a building of Giyōfū architecture, full of bricks and pseudo-European style. This style of building was built in urban areas.
Many artistic new
Painting
The first response of the Japanese to Western art forms was open-hearted acceptance, and in 1876 the Technological Art School (ja:工部美術学校) was opened, employing Italian instructors to teach Western methods. The second response was a pendulum swing in the opposite direction spearheaded by Okakura Kakuzō and the American Ernest Fenollosa, who encouraged Japanese artists to retain traditional themes and techniques while creating works more in keeping with contemporary taste. This was a strategy that eventually served to extend the influence of Japanese art as far as Calcutta, London, and Boston in the years leading up to World War I.[38] Out of these two poles of artistic theory—derived from Europe and from East Asia respectively—developed yōga ("Western-style painting") and Nihonga ("Japanese painting"), categories that have maintained currency.
Enamels
During the Meiji era, Japanese cloisonné enamel reached a technical peak, producing items more advanced than any that had existed before.[39] The period from 1890 to 1910 was known as the "Golden age" of Japanese enamels.[40] Artists experimented with pastes and with the firing process to produce ever larger blocks of enamel, with less need for cloisons (enclosing metal strips).[39] Thus enamels became a more pictorial medium, with designs similar to, or copied from, traditional paintings.[41] Enamels with a design unique to Japan, in which flowers, birds and insects were used as themes, became popular. In particular, the works of Namikawa Yasuyuki and Namikawa Sōsuke were exhibited at world's fairs and won many awards.[42][43][44][45] Along with the two Namikawa, the Ando Cloisonné Company has produced many high-quality cloisonne. Japanese enamels were regarded as unequalled thanks to the new achievements in design and colouring.[46]
Lacquerware
The Meiji era saw a renewed interest in lacquer as artists developed new designs and experimented with new textures and finishes. [47] Maki-e (decorating the lacquer in gold or silver dust) was the most common technique for quality lacquerware in this period.[48] Shibata Zeshin was a lacquerer who gained a high reputation for his works from the Bakumatsu to the Meiji period. Lacquerware called Shibayama and Somada, created in the Edo period, became popular for its showy style, inlaid with gold, silver, shellfish, ivory, and colorful metal and glass, and reached its peak during this period.[49] Lacquer from Japanese workshops was recognised as technically superior to what could be produced anywhere else in the world.[50]
Metalwork
At the start of the Meiji era, Japanese metalwork was almost totally unknown outside the country, unlike lacquer and porcelain which had previously been exported.[51] Metalwork was connected to Buddhist practice, for example in the use of bronze for temple bells and incense cauldrons, so there were fewer opportunities for metalworkers once Buddhism was displaced as the state religion.[51] International exhibitions brought Japanese cast bronze to a new foreign audience, attracting strong praise.[51] The past history of samurai weaponry equipped Japanese metalworkers to create metallic finishes in a wide range of colours. By combining and finishing copper, silver and gold in different proportions, they created specialised alloys including shakudō and shibuichi. With this variety of alloys and finishes, an artist could give the impression of full-colour decoration.[52]
Ivory carving
In the Meiji period, Japanese clothes began to be westernized and the number of people who wore
Porcelain and earthenware
Technical and artistic innovations of the Meiji era turned porcelain into one of the most internationally successful Japanese decorative art forms.
Textiles
The 1902 edition of Encyclopædia Britannica wrote, "In no branch of applied art does the decorative genius of Japan show more attractive results than that of textile fabrics, and in none has there been more conspicuous progress during recent years."[59] Very large, colourful pictorial works were being produced in Kyoto. Embroidery had become an art form in its own right, adopting a range of pictorial techniques such as chiaroscuro and aerial perspective.[59]
Art of the postwar period
Immediately following
The 1950s: Struggling to break free of socialist realism
Over the course of the 1950s, many Japanese artists became increasingly disillusioned with the rigid and limited definition of "art" enforced by the Communist Party.
A final straw came with the massive
The 1960s: An explosion of new genres
With the dominance of socialist realism fading, the 1960s witnessed an explosion of new art forms in Japan, as the arts expanded in new directions that might best be termed "postmodern."
The proliferation of new types of art was supported by the tremendous growth of Japan's economy in the 1960s, remembered as the "Japanese economic miracle." Over the course of the 1960s, the Japanese economy grew by over 10% per year. Rising wealth created a new class of consumers who could afford to spend money on art and support different types of art and artists. For the first time in Japan's modern history, it became viable for significant numbers of artists to make a living purely through selling their art. The 1960s construction boom in Japan, which leveled the old wood-and-paper traditional Japanese architecture and replaced it with sparkling mega-cities of glass and steel, helped inspire brand new schools of Japanese architecture, such as the Metabolism (architecture) movement led by Kenzō Tange, that boldly broke free from conventional models and proved influential around the world.
At the same time, however, the art world remained dominated by cliques that promoted the works of certain (usually male) artists over others. As it became much easier for Japanese to travel overseas in the 1960s, some female artists such as Yayoi Kusama and Yoko Ono found better reception overseas, and decamped for artistic centers such as London, Paris, and New York, as did many male artists as well.
The triumph of the new forms of Japanese art was cemented at the 1970 Osaka World's Fair, where dozens of avant-garde and conceptual artists were hired to design pavilions and artistic experiences for fair-goers.[72] Japanese avant-garde art had gone global, and had become something even the conservative government was proud to display to the world.
The 1970s and 1980s: Riding the economic bubble
The 1970s and 1980s saw Japanese art continue in many of the directions begun in the 1950s and 1960s, but often with much bigger budgets and more expensive materials, as Japan's economy kept rapidly expanding, and eventually grew into one of the largest economic bubbles in history. With Japanese currency becoming incredibly strong in the wake of the 1985 Plaza Accord, Japanese individuals and institutions became major players in the international art market. Extraordinarily wealthy Japanese mega-corporations began constructing their own private art museums and acquiring collections of modern and contemporary art, and Japanese artists greatly benefited from these expenditures as well.
In particular, artistic production continued to trend away from traditional painting and sculpture in the direction of graphic design, pop art, wearable art, performance art, conceptual art, and installation art. Various types of "hybrid" art increasingly came into vogue. As technology advanced, artists increasingly incorporated electronics, video, computers, synthesized music and sounds, and video games into their art. The aesthetics of manga and anime, which so many younger artists had grown up immersed in, exerted an increasing if sometimes quite subtle influence. Above all, artists eschewed anything redolent of "high art" or "fine art" in favor of the personal, the eclectic, the fantastic or phantasmagoric, and the playful. In edition, female artists such as Mika Yoshizawa became more and more accepted and supported by the art world in Japan.
Contemporary art in Japan
Japanese contemporary art takes as many forms and expresses as many different ideas as worldwide contemporary art in general. It ranges from advertisements, anime, video games, and architecture as already mentioned, to sculpture, painting, and drawing in all their myriad forms. Japanese artists have made especially notable contributions to global contemporary art in the fields of architecture, video games, graphic design, fashion, and perhaps above all, animation. While anime at first were derived primarily from manga stories,[citation needed] diverse anime abounds today, and many artists and studios have risen to great fame as artists; Hayao Miyazaki and the artists and animators of Studio Ghibli are generally regarded to be among the best the anime world has to offer.
At the same time, many Japanese artists continue to use traditional Japanese artistic techniques and materials inherited from premodern times, such as traditional forms of Japanese paper and ceramics and painting with black and color ink on paper or silk. Some of these artworks depict traditional subject matters in traditional styles, while others explore new and different motifs and styles, or create hybrids of traditional and contemporary art forms, while using traditional media or materials. Still others eschew native media and styles, embracing Western oil paints or any number of other forms.
In sculpture, the same holds true; some artists stick to the traditional modes, some doing it with a modern flair, and some choose Western or brand new modes, styles, and media.
Takashi Murakami is arguably one of the most well-known Japanese modern artists in the Western world. Murakami and the other artists in his studio create pieces in a style, inspired by anime, which he has dubbed "superflat". His pieces take a multitude of forms, from painting to sculpture, some truly massive in size. But most if not all show very clearly this anime influence, utilizing bright colors and simplified details.
Yayoi Kusama, Yoshitomo Nara, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Chiharu Shiota, Daidō Moriyama, Mariko Mori, Aya Takano, and Tabaimo are considered significant artists in the field of contemporary Japanese art.[73] The Group 1965, an artists' collective, counts contemporary artist Makoto Aida among its members.[74]
Performing arts
Many traditional forms of Japanese music, dance, and theater have survived in the contemporary world, enjoying some popularity through reidentification with Japanese cultural values. Traditional music and dance, which trace their origins to ancient religious use—
Aesthetic concepts
Japanese art is characterized by unique polarities. In the ceramics of the prehistoric periods, for example, exuberance was followed by disciplined and refined artistry. Another instance is provided by two 16th-century structures that are poles apart: the
Japan's aesthetic conceptions, deriving from diverse cultural traditions, have been formative in the production of unique art forms. Over the centuries, a wide range of artistic motifs developed and were refined, becoming imbued with symbolic significance. Like a pearl, they acquired many layers of meaning and a high luster. Japanese aesthetics provide a key to understanding artistic works perceivably different from those coming from Western traditions.
Within the East Asian artistic tradition,
(flower arrangements), in which the selected few represented a garden, were the favorite pursuits of refined aristocrats for a millennium, and they have remained a part of contemporary cultural life.The diagonal, reflecting a natural flow, rather than the fixed triangle, became the favored structural device, whether in painting, architectural or garden design, dance steps, or musical notations. Odd numbers replace even numbers in the regularity of a Chinese master pattern, and a pull to one side allows a motif to turn the corner of a three-dimensional object, thus giving continuity and motion that is lacking in a static frontal design. Japanese painters used the devices of the cutoff, close-up, and fade-out by the 12th century in yamato-e, or Japanese-style, scroll painting, perhaps one reason why modern filmmaking has been such a natural and successful art form in Japan. Suggestion is used rather than direct statement; oblique poetic hints and allusive and inconclusive melodies and thoughts have proved frustrating to the Westerner trying to penetrate the meanings of literature, music, painting, and even everyday language.
The Japanese began defining such aesthetic ideas in a number of evocative phrases by at least the 10th or 11th century. The courtly refinements of the aristocratic Heian period evolved into the elegant simplicity seen as the essence of good taste in the understated art that is called
Modern concepts
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Modern Japanese art is often heavily influenced by the nation's unique relationship with technology, frequently marrying traditional forms and concepts with new aesthetics and anxieties of the technological present, as well as being heavily influenced by the nation's varied economic history following the Second World War. Modern Japanese art engages heavily with themes of isolation and depersonalization, as well as the growing power and influence of digital technologies and the degree to which Japanese culture is affected by and exerts influence on an increasingly globalized and interconnected world.
As Japan was one of the first nations to be connected to the Internet on a large scale and one of the first countries to adopt widespread cellphone use, Japanese art was among the first forms of art to critically evaluate the dramatic social effects that ubiquitous connectivity have had on society. Conversely, the amount of Japanese art distributed on the Internet meant that Japanese art and aesthetics, including mass-culture art such as manga and anime, were enormously influential on Internet culture throughout the 1990s and 2000s, an influence that is not only still felt today, but also encouraged Japanese artists to continue to critically explore the nature of online life.
Japanese art has also been influenced by the increasing role of the nation's mass-culture art in global pop culture. Manga, anime, video games, mass market movies and associated cultural products have continued to become larger and more influential within the world of Japanese art since the 1970s, and themes expressed in these works have often mirrored the nation's current anxieties. The aesthetic language and conventions of these media have increasingly come to represent the totality of Japanese art and culture abroad as well; the aesthetic of kawaii, for example, originally was derived from traditional concepts within Japanese art dating back to the 15th century,[75] but was explored within popular manga and anime series in postwar Japan, and today is commonly seen as central to contemporary Japanese culture.[76]
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A drawing style common in manga. In recent decades, manga has not only become globally popular, but now also defines a key Japanese aesthetic. Over time, the art styles commonly found in manga have shifted in response to artistic evolutions.
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Kawaii fashion found in Tokyo. Popular among youth subcultures in the early 2000s, kawaii fashion rapidly differentiated into a number of aesthetic subcultures, including lolita fashion.
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"Osaka Kawaii" exhibit at Japan Expo 2014. Japan has attempted to use the popularity of Japanese art to bolster the nation's soft power through initiatives such as Cool Japan.
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A JapaneseHeisei era, and remained prevalent in Japan long after the advent of the smartphonemade flip phones obsolete elsewhere.
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A hologram of Hatsune Miku performs in concert. Originally developed as a voice synthesizer, Miku became emblematic of kawaii culture, questions about artificiality, the growth of grassroots music production and the changing nature of the artist.
Traditional aesthetics
Traditional Japanese Aesthetics are forms of beauty in Japanese culture that derive from the earliest centuries. At least over two-hundred years ago. Some of these early aesthetics make up the Japanese aesthetic as a whole: Syncretic Buddhist Art, Wabi-Sabi, Miyabi, Shibui, and Jo-ha-Kyu.
Syncretic Buddhist art
Wabi-Sabi
This aesthetic in Japanese culture is known for many things such as beauty in all things, even those that are imperfect. Modesty and unconventional things are what are seen as the wabi-sabi aesthetic. Wabi and sabi both make up the aesthetic of beauty in incompleteness together. When separated, both serve as differing terms. Wabi stands for fresh, simple work, denoting all complication and having a very rustic feel to all it relates too. Being made from nature and made from man itself in a tandem. If made by accident, it brings about a certain uniqueness to the work. Sabi is beauty and how it originates from age. The cycle of life plays a great role in sabi, adding to the aesthetic that sense of beauty in works that receive mending damage from aging over time. When bringing wabi and sabi together, it creates the aesthetic that every simple piece developed does not require a complicated design. Nor does it require absolute completeness for beauty to be found in it, and with age comes more delicate beauty.
Wabi-sabi has always been related to tea ceremonies in Japanese culture. It is said that these ceremonies are profound wabi-sabi events. Wabi-sabi is also related to activities such as architecture, fashion, and philosophy. All of these portions of wabi-sabi all share belief in the same theme: all imperfections such as incomplete work holds undeniable beauty. However, not everyone, of course, favors the idea behind wabi-sabi. While this is true, there are many who wish to keep the belief alive despite what others believe. Overall, wabi-sabi seems to be a very mindful approach to everyday life. A calm way to see things, and a way to live without coming off as judgmental. When understanding wabi-sabi, there are terms that strongly relate to the aesthetic as well.
- Fukinsei: asymmetry, irregularity.
- Kanso: simplicity.
- Koko: basic, weathered.
- Shizen: without pretense, natural.
- Yugen: subtly profound grace, not obvious.
- Datsuzoku: unbounded by convention, free.
- Seijaku: tranquility, silence.
Each of these terms are used to break down the complete understanding of wabi-sabi. It more so relates to the philosophy aspect of the entire aesthetic and how to view one's surroundings. These can allude to several things including the ideas in humans, the themes behind certain aspects of life, or nature itself. Each term leads back to the point that wabi-sabi is an aesthetic that is about appreciating the small things that are imperfect and or incomplete.[citation needed]
Miyabi
In the ongoing history of Japan, miyabi can stand for many things. However, it seems to be centered around the concept of elegance, beauty, refinement, and courtliness. For this, it is one of the older aesthetics among most of the Japanese aesthetics in the culture. That would explain why it is not as popular as the rest which may be newer compared to miyabi. It is a term that is also used to express aristocratic culture. Miyabi eliminates all forms of rudeness and crudity from the culture. This brings about the proper picture and form of aristocratic culture. Miyabi brings about these changes. Miyabi ensures that refinement of love, literature, feeling, and art is celebrated within the Japanese culture. Refinement is welcomed.
Shibui
Shibui is coming to understand an object or an art piece for what it is. Locating simple and subtle beauty in certain things is a goal when it comes to designing or reviewing certain designs. In many ways, shibui is very similar to wabi-sabi but is not wabi-sabi. Shibui appreciates items and objects for simply being. There is no complication or irrational thinking when it comes down to shibui. Akin to certain aesthetics in the Japanese culture, there are a couple of terms in relation to Shibui: shibumi is the taste of shibui; Shibusa is the state of shibui.
Both these terms relate to subtle, unobtrusive beauty. There are several items and objects that can be considered a part of the shibui aesthetic, not just art or fashion. It can also be people, animals, songs, movies, several different types of media can be seen as shibui. For example, a pair of shoes, a camera, a moped bike, and several different pieces of art or objects used for everyday activity can be seen as shibui. Direct and simple is the way of shibui. Nothing over the top or too flashy.
Jo-ha-kyu
This is an aesthetic that originated from the Noh Theatre and even appeared in the 14th century. It is used in different art forms in Japan even still today. It is a movement that has been applied in several different arts with jo, ha, and kyu standing for individual things to make up its definition: jo, 'beginning'; ha, 'break', 'crack'; kyu: 'rapid', 'over'
Essentially, what this aesthetic means is that when it comes down to pieces that deal with movement, things should start slowly with proper build-up. Almost akin to how a story is told. Then once it reaches its climax, it speeds up. When it reaches its end, then that is when things begin to rapidly speed up until all of a sudden it has reached an ending.
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Traditionally, the artist was a vehicle for expression and was personally reticent, in keeping with the role of an artisan or entertainer of low social status. The
After
Art schools
There are a number of specialized universities for the arts in Japan, led by the national universities. The most important is the
The national government has actively supported the arts through the
Private sponsorship and foundations
Arts patronage and promotion by the government are broadened to include a new cooperative effort with corporate Japan to provide funding beyond the tight budget of the Agency for Cultural Affairs. Many other public and private institutions participate, especially in the burgeoning field of awarding arts prizes. A growing number of large corporations join major newspapers in sponsoring exhibitions and performances and in giving yearly prizes. The most important of the many literary awards given are the venerable Naoki Prize and the Akutagawa Prize, the latter being the equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize in the United States.
In 1989 an effort to promote cross-cultural exchange led to the establishment of a Japanese "
A number of foundations promoting the arts arose in the 1980s, including the
See also
- List of National Treasures of Japan (crafts: others)
- Culture of Japan
- List of collections of Japanese art
- Art galleries
- Japan
- Tokyo National Museum, est. 1872
- Kyoto National Museum, est. 1889
- Nara National Museum, est. 1889
- Kyushu National Museum, est. 2005
- United States
- Freer Gallery of Art, est. 1923
- Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
- Japan
- Japanese artists category
- Musha-e
References
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- ^ Korea, 500–1000 A.D. Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History The Metropolitan Museum of Art metmuseum.org Archived 2006-12-14 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Needless to say, the influence of Greek art on Japanese Buddhist art, via the Buddhist art of Gandhara and India, was already partly known in, for example, the comparison of the wavy drapery of the Buddha images, in what was, originally, a typical Greek style" (Katsumi Tanabe, "Alexander the Great, East-West cultural contacts from Greece to Japan", p19)
- ^ Korean Influence on Early Japanese Buddhist Sculpture buddhapia.com Archived 2011-01-11 at the Wayback Machine "One must stress the obvious point that since Korean Buddhist art is directly based on developments in China, ultimately a study of Korean influence on Japan must be rooted in an understanding of the Chinese impact on Korea.""Since the territory of the Northern Wei was adjacent to that of Koguryo, it is natural that the Buddhist ideas and art current at the Northern Wei court would flow directly to Koguryo. ""It should also be pointed out that there was considerable influence from Koguryo on the southern kingdoms of Paekche and Silla even though Paekche also received direct influence from south China, as was mentioned above." "I have argued that various groups, including official envoys, monks, and students, as well as Korean settlers, were responsible for bringing Korean icons to Japan."
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"Archaic smile", Britannica Online Encyclopedia, 2009, webpage: EB-Smile.
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- ^ Korea: a religious history By James Huntley Grayson
- ^ "The Japanese wind god images do not belong to a separate tradition apart from that of their Western counterparts but share the same origins. ... One of the characteristics of these Far Eastern wind god images is the windbag held by this god with both hands, the origin of which can be traced back to the shawl or mantle is worn by Boreas/ Oado." (Katsumi Tanabe, "Alexander the Great, East-West cultural contacts from Greece to Japan", p. 21)
- ^ "The origin of the image of Vajrapani should be explained. This deity is the protector and guide of the Buddha Sakyamuni. His image was modeled after that of Hercules. ... The Gandharan Vajrapani was transformed in Central Asia and China and afterward transmitted to Japan, where it exerted stylistic influences on the wrestler-like statues of the Guardina Deities (Niō)." (Katsumi Tanabe, "Alexander the Great, East-West cultural contacts from Greece to Japan", p. 23)
- ^ The transmission of the floral scroll pattern from West to East is presented in the regular exhibition of Ancient Japanese Art, at the Tokyo National Museum.
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- Also see Arrowsmith, Rupert Richard. "The Transcultural Roots of Modernism: Imagist Poetry, Japanese Visual Culture, and the Western Museum System", ISSN 1071-6068.
- Also see Arrowsmith, Rupert Richard. "The Transcultural Roots of Modernism: Imagist Poetry, Japanese Visual Culture, and the Western Museum System",
- ^ Impey, 69-70
- ^ Impey, 71-74
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Certainly the Japanese potters are among the most outstanding in the world today...
- American Economist. November 30, 1917. p. 255.
In skill and technique of faience and keramics generally Japan is a leader and teacher of the world.
- ISBN 978-4-907211-11-0
- ISBN 978-4-582-92217-2
- ^ Earle 1999, pp. 30–31.
- ^ a b Liddell, C. B. (2013-12-14). "[Review:] Japonisme and the Rise of the Modern Art Movement: The Arts of the Meiji Period". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2020-03-19.
- ^ a b Earle 1999, p. 31.
- ^ Earle 1999, pp. 32–33.
- ^ Earle 1999, p. 349.
- ^ a b Earle 1999, pp. 347–348.
- ^ Cortazzi, Sir Hugh (2014-01-16). "[Review:] Japonisme and the Rise of the Modern Art Movement: The Arts of the Meiji Period, The Khalili Collection". Japan Society of the UK. Archived from the original on 2014-08-14. Retrieved 2020-03-19.
- ^ Earle 1999, p. 29.
- ^ Kiyomizu Sannenzaka Museum
- ^ 第12回「創造する伝統賞」. Japan Arts Foundation.
- ^ Video of a Lecture discussing the importance of Okakura and Japanese Art to Global Modernism[permanent dead link], School of Advanced Study, July 2011.
- ^ a b Earle 1999, p. 252.
- OCLC 853452453.
- ^ Earle 1999, p. 287.
- ISBN 978-4-582-92217-2
- ^ Toyoro Hida, Gregory Irvine, Kana Ooki, Tomoko Hana and Yukari Muro. Namikawa Yasuyuki and Japanese Cloisonné The Allure of Meiji Cloisonné: The Aesthetic of Translucent Black, pp.182-188, The Mainichi Newspapers Co, Ltd, 2017
- ^ Earle 1999, p. 254.
- ISBN 978-1-4629-0588-1.
- JSTOR 25582341.
We doubt if any form of the enameller's art can equal the work executed in Japan, which is distinguished by great freedom of design, and the most exquisite gradations of color.
- ^ Earle 1999, pp. 186–187.
- ^ Earle 1999, p. 185.
- ISBN 978-4-582-92217-2
- ^ Earle 1999, p. 187.
- ^ a b c Earle 1999, p. 64.
- ^ Earle 1999, p. 66.
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- ^ Earle 1999, p. 330.
- ^ Earle 1999, pp. 116–117.
- ISBN 978-1-135-78619-9. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
- ^ Earle 1999, pp. 117–119.
- ^ 受賞経歴 Makuzu ware Museum
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- ^ Gotthardt, Alexxa (2018-09-18). "7 Giants of Japanese Contemporary Art Who Aren't Murakami or Kusama". Artsy. Retrieved 2019-04-22.
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Sources
- This article was originally based on material from WebMuseum Paris - Famous Artworks exhibition [1].
- Japan - This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. Country Studies. Federal Research Division.
- ISBN 0-691-03680-2
- Earle, Joe (1999). Splendors of Meiji : treasures of imperial Japan: masterpieces from the Khalili Collection. St. Petersburg, Fla.: Broughton International Inc. OCLC 42476594.
- Impey, Oliver, in ISBN 1-85029-251-5
- Kaempfer, H. M. and W. O. G. Sickinghe The Fascinating World of the Japanese Artist. A Collection of Essays on Japanese Art by Members of the Society for Japanese Arts and Crafts, The Hague, ISBN 0-87093-156-3
- Kapur, Nick (2018). Japan at the Crossroads: Conflict and Compromise after Anpo. Cambridge, MA: ISBN 978-0-674-98442-4.
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- "The Crossroads of Asia, Transformation in image and symbols", 1992, ISBN 0-9518399-1-8
Further reading
- Marks, Andreas (2010). Japanese Woodblock Prints: Artist, Publishers and Masterworks 1680-1900. North Clarendon, VT: Tuttle Publishing. ISBN 978-4-8053-1055-7.
- Momoyama, Japanese art in the age of grandeur. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1975. ISBN 978-0-87099-125-7.
- Murase Miyeko (2000). Bridge of dreams: the Mary Griggs Burke collection of Japanese art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 978-0-87099-941-3.
- Sato Yasuhiro (2020). The World of Ito Jakuchu: Classical Japanese Painter of All Things Great and Small in Nature. Tokyo: Japan Publishing Industry Foundation for Culture. ISBN 978-4-86658-135-4. Archived from the originalon 2021-06-07. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
- Takashina Shuji (2018). The Japanese Sense of Beauty. Tokyo: Japan Publishing Industry Foundation for Culture. ISBN 978-4-86658-020-3. Archived from the originalon 2021-09-28. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
- Tsuji Nobuo (2019). History of Art in Japan. New York, NY: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-4-13-087060-3.
- (in Spanish and Japanese) Kato, Kauro [sic] (加藤 薫 Katō Kaoru) (Kanagawa University), translator: Saeko Yanagisawa. "Acercamiento a la influencia del movimiento muralista mexicano en el arte contemporáneo de Japón." (日本現代美術におけるメキシコ壁画運動の影響について, Archive) Crónicas. El Muralismo, Producto de la Revolución Mexicana, en América. National Autonomous University of Mexico. December 2008, No. 13, p. 237–264. Spanish: p. 237–255, Japanese: p. 256–264.
External links
- Five Thousand Years of Japanese Art Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, online version
- Japanese Prints by John Gould Fletcher
- e-Museum Archived 2017-04-22 at the Wayback Machine High definition images of national treasures and important cultural properties owned by four national museums in Japan
- Ukiyo-e in the "A World History of Art"
- Japan Cultural Profile - national cultural portal for Japan created by Visiting Arts/Japan Foundation
- Ruth and Sherman Lee Institute for Japanese Art Collection, online collection of images from the Online Archive of California/University of California Merced
- The Herbert Offen Research Collection of the Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum
- The Art of Bonsai Project Archived 2019-04-23 at the Wayback Machine
- The Vision and Art of Shinjo Ito: Sculptures, calligraphy, photographs of a buddhist Great Master (Grand Acharya)
- "History of Japanese Art" Lecture at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts by Okakura Kakuzo (English Translation)
- Japanese Art of the Meiji Period (1868 – 1912) The Khalili Collections