Analysis Of Sudden Shower Over Shin-Ohashi Bridge And Atake

Ukiyo-e is the name given to one of the most important art forms in all of Japan. Arriving as a new form of art in the 1700's these prints served as a record of daily life and pleasures in a newly wealthy Japanese society. The Japanese themselves had long regarded pleasure as transient because of their Buddhist heratige, because of this the word Ukiyo-e actually means "pictures of the floating world". These prints were truly art which reflected the whims of the masses. They record popular styles of dress, new hairstyles etc. They also record the popular Kabuki theater actors, the most beautiful geisha's (or prostitutes), and later even landscapes. Within the realm of Ukiyo-e there are many masters, but there is one master,

In the Turner’s The Slave Ship and Hokusai’s The Great Wave off Kanagawa, the two artists use the complexity and versatility of the ocean to display important events and ideas of the time period. Through the use of different artistic techniques, these two artists are able to capture similar settings in very different ways with very different meanings.

The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Hokusai is a famous woodcut print that is commonly referred to as The Great Wave. Hokusai Katsushika was one of the greatest Japanese printmakers of the 19th century. The print, The Great Wave, is a part of a 36-piece series of the views of Japan’s most famous mountain; Mount Fuji. Hokusai’s series was very popular and sold rather quickly. Due to its popularity, Hokusai decided to extend the series to 46 pieces. The original piece was created around 1830 and was published in 1832 by Nishimuraya Yohachi. Within this paper, I will be discussing the analysis of this print while connecting my findings to the elements and principles of design.

It is estimated that 5000-8000 prints were made during this process, which makes it very valuable. Although prints were one cheap, prints are actually very valuable now. In the print, it is shown that there is a mountain in the background, behind the wave. Which is kinda the whole point of the painting, “the great wave off Kanagawa”. In the print, it shows a wave, but this wave is not a tsunami but called things like “freak wave” or “monster wave”, which makes it nonetheless deadly. In the print, it is shown that there are boats trying to fight the wave, which is confused to be Japanese inspired but that's just its style. It's funny because Japanese politicians don't even view it as Japanese art, which is mostly why Hokusai considered it a failure. Japan even delayed this artwork from being catching on worldwide.

This was an influential import and made a huge impact on the Japanese community. There is a mixture of both drawn and photographed images within this chapter. Japanese artists mainly produced images that are printed or hand drawn, while western artists produced the photographed images. The chapter overall includes both a mixture of Japanese and western artists. The images within the chapter portray the viewpoint of the artist who was present at the time of the

The Great Wave by Christopher Benfey shows a glimpse of “Old Japan” and its fascinating artwork around the time of the cultural tsunami in 1854 followed by the time of American Fascination. This book is not so much a book on Japan, more or less it is a piece comparing the U.S. and Japan by looking at topics like cultural and social aspects faced by both countries. Towards the latter half of the book, Benfey really keys into aspects like Jiujutsu and martial arts along with forms of Japanese art and the idea of expressing ones spirit.

For thousands of centuries, Japanese artists had been breaking the boundaries with their relentless creations of shocking pieces that made people question if there was a life after death. The popular subject of restless spirits or dark beings drove many artists from the Heian Period to modern-day times to express their stylistic techniques and narrative stories through woodblock printing and other alternative forms of art. Unlike most Western art, Japan’s disturbing representations of decaying bodies and death did not promote unrealistic, commercial expectations of death that commonly exists in art today. While handling such abstract ideas of the afterlife alongside the uncensored authenticity of death, each piece arouses fear and empathy for

In the essentially dual religious system in Japan, ideologies and traditions play a heavy role in the everyday life of the Japanese people. Shintoism and Buddhism intertwine and complement themselves in Japanese culture, despite Buddhism coming in from mainland Asia. A particularly powerful idea from Buddhism is mono no aware, the realization and acknowledgment of the impermanence and its place in the world. This idea that nothing stays the same forever manifests itself heavily in Japanese literature, whether in personal writings or fictional works. Despite spanning hundreds of years, each work was shaped by and include manifestations of mono no aware. I intend to underline and pinpoint instances that mono no aware is influencing these works, and discuss similarities and differences between them. In this paper, I have three works that I will explore, each one corresponding to a different time period before the pre-industrial revolution; The Diary of Lady Murasaki comes from the classical period, Essays in Idleness from the medieval, and the immensely popular play Chushingura from the pre-modern era.

In his 2001 journal article “Ise Shrine and a Modernist Construction of Japanese Tradition” of The Art Bulletin, Jonathan M. Reynolds examines the differing representation of the Ise Shrine through time, emphasizing on the changing cultural significance of the Ise after the second world war. Reynolds discussion of the Ise Shrine centers on its representation in texts and images. The texts and images in which Reynolds analyzes date as early as the 8th century with the Nihon Shoki, and as recent as the 20th century.

Sudden Rain at OHASHI by Hiroshige is an artwork that evokes strong nature presence, with its focus on scale between the figures on the bridge and the vastness of the background the scene is very spacious with its vertical framing. the strong feeling of hostility is evoked in the viewers as the general composition of the woodcut is quite diagonal creating subtle directional forces, the color palette is cool and maintains a close monochromatic scheme. Emphasis of nature vs man is evident in this artwork as the line of action of certain elements in the piece is clashing with each other,in the lower half of the woodcut; the rain from a storm is opposing the bridge sitting on the river, creating a gestural tension in the piece. Balancing the tension

Avakian, Monique. The Meiji Restoration and the Rise of Modern Japan. Boston: Silver Burdett, 1991. 38-54.

They are the ritualization in Japanese culture, women’s implicit expression of love, women’s hierarchy in 18th Japan, and how the landscape of Japan influences the prosperity of Geisha culture.

The two scenes were beautiful in a natural, traditional and exotic way, which was different from Yokohama’s beauty of modernity in picture 2 and 4. Yokohama was one of the seven treaty ports opened by the Kanagawa Treaty in 1854 and Harris Treaty in 1858. Under the intimidation of America’s steam-and-coal warships, Japan had no choice but ended its “close-country policy” and gave the U.S., later also Britain, the Netherlands, Russia, and France, the access to the seven treaty ports. After a decade, when the “globetrotter” tourists visited Japan and pressed the camera shutter, we can see how those treaty ports, especially Yokohama, were influenced by the West. Picture 2 depicted a main street of Yokohama. On the left side of the street was a printing office while on the right side of the street, there was a Cigar store. Cigar was clearly not a native product of Japan, but something introduced from the West. Another noteworthy detail was that the shop signs of the two stores were both written in English instead of Japanese. Picture 4 was a portrait of a railway station. Train was a symbol of technology development and signified Japan was stepping outside of the Biological Old Regime and start to use steam and fuel as the source of energy. In addition, in the middle of the picture stood a lampstand. It indicated the use of electricity, and gave viewer a

Almost instantaneously recognizable, The Great Wave off Kanagawa (woodblock, 10 1/8 x 14 15/16 in, c. 1830-32), created by Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai in 1830, beautifully captures the graceful, swelling movement of a crashing tsunami. Because of the way in which line and proportion are utilized, this woodblock print gracefully portrays the sheer power of the ocean. Derived from the Edo period in nineteenth century Japan, this classic was the first of a series of works from Hokusai titled Thirty-six views of Mount Fuji, all of which effortlessly depict the mountain in a wide array of angles and scenery. Arguably, The Great Wave off Kanagawa is the most iconic and cherished piece of Japanese artwork in the world. Even more importantly, Hokusai is considered prominent father figure for both Japanese art, as well as Western modernization as a whole. The Great Wave truly displays how tiny and weak man is compared to the force of nature. Not only is The Great Wave a quintessential piece of art, but it established a piece in the comprehensive networks of art, trade, and politics, that has instilled a tremendous positive impact on the twenty first century.

This Paper will be an analysis of the development of Japanese landscape painting, analyzing the historical context behind these paintings and what led to the changes in style. Both of these paintings are representative of their specific culture during this rapidly changing time and these changes will be discussed in relation to the artwork. I am going to be discussing Japanese landscape painting, the outside influences shaping Japanese landscape painting but also focusing on the internal elements of Japanese culture shaping the style of artworks. The changing techniques and styles as well as the changing political climate will all be looked at.