Japan Art Review

Identify Artist: Yokoyama Taikan Meiji Period, 1909, One of a pair of hanging scrolls, ink, colors, and gold on silk 56.5 x 20.5" Women are engaged in divination on the banks of the Ganges. The naturalism of their semitransparent robes and the flowing water reveal the artists' indebtedness to Western art. In contrast, the lightly applied colors, and graceful branches with delicate mottled brushwork defining the leaves, recall techniques of Rinpa-school artists.

Name the artist Hakuin Ekaku was a self-taught painter and very important Zen Master. He invented koan (questions to guide progression towards enlightenment during meditation). His artwork varied from the typical Japanese art, because he featured everyday subjects and Zen themes. He painted the Daruma often- the monk who created Zen Buddhism. He used minimal, broad brushstrokes in his works. The Giant Daruma is his most famous work.

Name this thing. himeji castle Due to the European influence in warfare, the castle was built with winding, covered paths to create a disorienting path to confuse the visitor. This castle is also known as the White Heron.

Identify Raku-ware Hand-built, low fired ceramic to be used during the traditional Japanese tea ceremony. An example of raku ware is the Teabowl, Called Mount Fuji.

Artist and name LANDSCAPE Artist: Bunsei Muronachi Period, mid 15th century, hanging scroll, ink and light colors colors on paper, 28 3/4 x 13" Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Closely modeled on Koren ink landscape paintings that themselves copied Chinese Ming period models. It contains a foreground consisting of a spit of rocky land with an overlapping series of motifs- a spiky pine tree, a craggy rock, a poet seating in a hermitage, etc. We are expected to "read" the empty spaces as representing water. Beyond the blank space, subtle tones of gray ink, delineate a distant shore where fishing boats, a small hut, and two people stand. The painting illustrates the pure, lonely, and ultimately serene spirit of the Zen-influenced poetic landscape tradition.

Name the Artist A pupil of Shubun, Sesshu is one of the greatest painters in Japanese history. He was a Zen monk who moved to western Japan to concentrate on his painting. His new temple was patronized by a warrior clan who traded with China, and Sesshu visited China and studied Chinese art for three years. He broke the refined landscape style after his return, and Winter Landscape is his most famous. Winter Landscape has a cliff that cuts the work in two, and sharp jagged brush strokes create the rest of the scenery.

Artist and Medium Woodblock print on ink Created by Katsuchika Hokusai. In 1760 Hokusai was born. At age 6 he began to paint. Apprintace to Shunsho, one of the most famous ukiyo-e artist of the time. Contains the snowcapped mountains of Mt. Fuji,3 fishing boats returning to the capital Edo (Now Tokyo), and crashing waves overtaking the fishermen and their ships. One of the most recogized woodcuts form japan.

Name of Painting The Flowers of Beauty in the Floating World This painting depicts a woman and a young girl looking out over the bay in Edo, which is now Tokyo. In Edo, which was the largest city in the world during the 1760s, the commoners had a vibrant culture where many worked. The woman and the young girl are geishas, which are licensed prostitutes.

Artist and name? SKY II Artist: Fukami Sueharu Helen Foresman Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas Celadon-glazed porcelain with wood base 3 X 44 1/8 x 9 1/5 " "Ultra-modern" pottery using new styles and innovative techniques, Sky II was made by Fukami Sueharu, one of the most groundbreaking Japanese sculptors today. This particular piece was created using a slip casting technique, in which Sueharu injected liquid clay into a mold using a high-pressure compressor. The title suggests sources of his abstract sculptural form; the pale blue sky- colored glaze enhances the allusion of an aircraft wing slicing through the air.

What is this? Before the 19th Century, the Kimono was known as a Kosode Robe. Known as "Small Sleeves" and reveals the opulent taste of affluent merchant-class women of the day. Design on them resembles the paintings found in this period. Created from satin ground with silk and metallic thread embroidery, then tie-dyed and brush painted.

What is this? ZEN ROCK GARDEN Zen Buddhism became very prominent, and the Zen monks created rock gardens for manual labor, which was an active form of meditation. The land is called karensanui ("dried up mountains and water"), and it exists in perfect harmony. The rocks are set up in asymmetrical groups on sand or gravel.