From the Shoguns to the present Chapter 27 From the Shoguns to the present The Art of later japan

Zen appealed to the samurai because the samurai’s own codes placed high values on loyalty, courage, and self-control. Familiarity with Chinese Zen culture carried implications of superior knowledge and refinement, thereby legitimizing the elevated status of the warrior elite.

The purpose of the dry garden at Saihoje: To promote study and meditation. Gazing at natural scenery was considered beneficial to the human spirit, refreshing people after too much contact with daily affairs. Dry gardens encouraged deep mental, aesthetic, and spiritual engagement with the scene, which could be fully visualized only in the mind. Figure 27-1 Dry cascade and pools, upper garden, Saihoji temple, Kyoto, Japan, modified in Muromachi period, 14th century.

His technique: He paused to visualize the image, loaded his brush with ink, and then applied primarily broad, rapid strokes, sometimes even dripping the ink onto the paper. The result often hovers at the edge of legibility, without dissolving into sheer abstraction. Toyo Sesshu was the fifteenth century master who created “broken” or “splashed-ink” paintings. Figure 27-2 TOYO SESSHU, broken-ink landscape, Japan, Muromachi period, 1495. Hanging scroll, ink on paper, 4’ 10 1/4” x 1’ 7/8”. Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo.

Two features that characterize the style of Mononobu and the Kano school: Bold outlines. The presentation of objects along the vertical plane of the painting surface (rather than using atmospheric perspective). The most popular for the painted decorations of the Momoyama period was folding screen painting. Figure 27-3 KANO MOTONOBU, Zen Patriarch Xiangyen Zhixian Sweeping with a Broom, Japan, Muromachi period, ca. 1513. Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper, 5’ 7 3/8” x 2’ 10 3/4”. Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo.

Tea ceremony water jar. named Kogan (ancient stream bank). Momoyama Per. 16th C

Taian teahouse. Myokian Temple. Momoyama Per. c.1582

Figure 27-4 KANO EITOKU, Chinese Lions, Japan, Momoyama period, late 16th century. Six-panel screen, color, ink , and gold-leaf on paper, 7’ 4” x 14’ 10”. Imperial Household Agency, Tokyo.

Figure 27-5 HASEGAWA TOHAKU, Pine Forest, Japan, Momoyama period, late sixteenth century. One of a pair of six-panel screens, ink on paper, 5’ 1 3/8” x 11’ 4”. Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo.

Contrast styles of the following Momoyama painters: Kano Eitoku Bold forms such as the muscular lions, defined and flattened by broad contour lines, on a gold background with minimal setting elements. Hasegawa Tohaku Painted in ink monochrome using loose, wet brushwork. KANO EITOKU HASEGAWA TOHAKU

Three factors that were important in creating the aesthetic effect of the building: There is little ornament, the appeal relying instead on subtleties of proportion, color, and texture. Artisans rubbed and burnished all surfaces to bring out the natural beauty of their grains and textures. Parting or removing sliding doors can create broad rectangular spaces. The source of many of the features used the Katsura Imperial Villa were earlier teahouses, such as Rikyu’s Taian teahouse. The feature helped blend the interior with the exterior of the building were the doors can be opened to the outside to achieve a harmonious integration of building and garden. Eastern façade of Katsura Imperial Villa. Kyoto. Edo Period. 1620-63

The style of vessels and buildings used in the ceremony: Freestanding teahouses replaced the practice of holding the ceremony in a room of a house. The ceremony uses special utensils such as water jugs and tea bowls that are valued for their beauty rather than their monetary worth. The admiration of technically brilliant Chinese objects gradually gave way to appreciation of the virtues of rustic Korean and Japanese wares. Refined rusticity, wabi, suggests austerity and simplicity: teahouses might evoke the hut of a recluse in the mountains. Sabi, the value found in the old and weathered, was also important to tea ceremony aesthetics. The purpose of the tea ceremony: A symbolic withdrawal from the ordinary world to cultivate the mind and spirit. It also eventually came to carry various political and ideological implications, such as providing a means for those new to power to assert authority in the cultural realm. HONAMI KOETSU, Boat Bridge, writing box, Japan, Edo period, early seventeenth century. Lacquered wood with sprinkled gold and inlay, 9 1/2” x 4 5/8”. Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo.

Rimpa School differed from those of the Kano and Tosa schools: Many Rimpa works focused on literary themes favored by the nobility, and many Rimpa artists affiliated themselves with court culture. Rimpa works are characterized by vivid color and extensive use of gold and silver, and often incorporated decorative patterns. Ogata Korin. White Plum Blossoms. Edo period. 1710-16

Japanese literati painters different from the Chinese literati whose work they emulated in that in China, literati were scholars who were landed gentry, and therefore amateurs and pursued painting as one of the proper functions of an educated and cultivated man. In Japan, literati were mainly professionals, painting to earn a living. Yosa Busan. Cuckoo Flying over New Verdure. Edo Per. late 18th C

Suzuki Harunobu was the eighteenth century Japanese artist who used wood block prints to illustrate subjects from everyday life People of every income, including those of very modest income were the purchasers of Japanese wood block prints. SUZUKI HARUNOBU, Evening Bell at the Clock, from Eight Views of the Parlor series, Japan, Edo period, ca. 1765. Woodblock print, 11 1/4” x 8 1/2”. Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago (Clarence Buckingham Collection).

Katsushika Hokusai was a Japanese printmaker who specialized in landscapes KATSUSHIKA HOKUSAI, The Great Wave off Kanagawa, from Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji series, Japan, Edo period, ca. 1826–1833. Woodblock print oban, ink and colors on paper, 9 7/8” x 1’ 2 3/4”. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Three western techniques incorporated by Japanese Nihonga painters: Chiaroscuro. Perspective. Bright hues. TAKAHASHI, Yuichi Oiran oil on canvas Meiji Period 1873

Yokoyama Taikan. Kutsugen. Meiji Per. 1898

Kenzo Tange utilized cable suspension with steel and concrete structural system for his design of the Olympic stadium. Figure 27-15 TANGE KENZO, national indoor Olympic stadiums, Tokyo, Japan, Showa period, 1961–1964.

A Japanese “living national treasure”: Also known as an “Intangible Important Cultural Property,” a craftsperson who works in traditional Japanese pottery and other crafts. Hamada Shoji. Large bowl. 1962

Figure 27-17 TSUCHIYA KIMIO, Symptom, 1987 Figure 27-17 TSUCHIYA KIMIO, Symptom, 1987. Branches, 13' 1 1/2" x 14' 9 1/8" x 3' 11 1/4". Installation view, Jeune Sculpture '87, Paris 1987.

Compare a Harunobu print with Degas’ The Tub Compare a Harunobu print with Degas’ The Tub. In what ways does Degas's composition resemble that of the Japanese print? DEGAS, The Tub SUZUKI HARUNOBU, Evening Bell at the Clock, from Eight Views of the Parlor

KATSUSHIKA HOKUSAI, The Great Wave off Kanagawa What relation so you see between Hokusai’s Great Wave and Van Gogh’s Starry Night ? Discuss the treatment of the surface and the conception of space. KATSUSHIKA HOKUSAI, The Great Wave off Kanagawa Van GOGH, Starry Night