The Development Of Japanese Landscape Painting

Japanese artistry, for many, is seen as a style dominated by Buddhist representations and Chinese, Korean, and Indian influences. However, despite what one might believe, Japanese art once was its own style that differed greatly from other cultures. In fact, art historians can date the earliest form of art back to around 10,500 BCE, where the first distinct culture of Japan was discovered almost ten millenniums before the birth of Buddha (Gardner et al. 17-1a). This early culture existed for three periods of an independent, evolving culture; the Jomon, Yayoi, and Kofun periods. Even after outside influences began affecting Japanese art and culture, their art and architecture still remained unique from other civilizations of the time such as

French artists began gaining influences from Japanese art, and Japonisme infiltrated their works. The term Japonisme was initially conceived by French art critic Philippe Burty in 1872 to describe the newly found interest of Japanese culture and to “designate a new field of study-artistic, historic, and ethnographic.” It freed Western artists from the restrictions within their own art culture and stylistic tradition by opening up a new array of ideas and outlet for inspiration (ibid). It gave artists a whole new array of subject matter, techniques, and devices such as “the representation of depth and surfaces, the treatment of light and shade, and format and division of the picture plane… the symbolic role of real objects…[and], new poses captured through new means of representation…” (Wichmann 1999, 10).

The heart of Chinese art was calligraphy. More than just a form of writing for the Chinese, it was considered “one of the three perfections or gentlemanly arts” (285). Calligraphy bled into painting, another of the three arts, which can be found in the brushstrokes in the paintings of the time. Similarly, Japanese painting also utilized brushstrokes as a result of Chinese

In this essay I will talk about Japanese art mainly in the Edo period and it’s development and what influenced it and how these art pieces affected the western art.

Particularly, the south (autumn) door depicts a breathtaking detailed image of Raigō of Amida and the Celestial Host (1053), made with colors on wood. This image is of importance because it not only depicts monks and a host of celestial beings, but also a new element emerging; that of Japan’s rural landscape – the ‘serene, low-lying hillocks and meandering streams of Yamato’ (Stanley-Baker 71). Yamato-e is a style of Japanese painting inspired by Tang dynasty paintings and fully developed by the late-Heian period, becoming the classical Japanese style (Akiyama 146). Meanwhile, the paintings remained first and foremost religious works relating to belief in Amida, but in China and Japan the most important was Kan Muryōju kyō, which describes the appearance of the Pure Land (Akiyama 147). The greatest of the Heian interpretations of the raigō (“welcoming approach”) conception is the Descent of Amida and the Twenty-five Bodhisattvas during the late eleventh century (Paine and Soper 98). In this work, the Amida no longer “sits aloof on cloud forms of some sutra-inspired and grandiose vision of heaven”; rather, the deity descends to Earth for the work of salvation of souls (Paine and Soper 98). These works are portrayed as more cheerful due to the vividness of contrasting tones of red, oranges, and greens—distinguishing from the more solemn renderings that had preceded

Eventually all of this change brought along new art. At this time the Japanese had taken a liking to chinese art and became very popular among the culture. The Japanese would show their love for the Buddha in ways that included art, “The earliest paintings had a Buddhist theme and were displayed in the temples along the Buddhist

The art during the Qing dynasty was very different from those throughout China. During the Qing Dynasty art was coveted over greatly. Many people respected art during this Time. There were many scholars, poets, painters, and potters during this time that took their work very seriously. Painters during this time were either individualist or traditionalist. They focused in wars and what was going on in the real world, other than what people wanted to see. The Manchus, who had already adopted many Chinese practices before ruling as the Qing, continued to show respect for Chinese art that was based on the study of old styles and masters. Literati painting in the Qing thus became orthodox and stereotyped, especially as represented by the prestigious “Four Wangs” of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth

Meiji restoration brought about a lot of change, like a new drive for industrialization and a turn towards more western ideas. This would put Japanese art in a tough spot since more effort was put into industrialization of the country that a lack of partisans left only two schools left for artist, one of which was much more popular than the other, on the international level. The popular style was the westernized art in Japan. It wasn’t until American came in and saw the beauty in Japanese style of art that more funding came in to help support the classic style. This saved the Japanese style and opened two new schools for art in Japan. Now days, Japanese style of art is influential all over the world with other cultures.

Hello, Chyler! I think my personal favorite work of Ando (Utagawa) Hiroshige is “Sanno Festival Procession at Kojimachi I-chome” (picture below). This woodblock print is just 1 of 118 different woodblock print making up Hiroshige’s “One Hundred Famous Views of Edo,” which is considered “one of the greatest achievements of Japanese art” by the Brooklyn Museum (“Hiroshige's One Hundred Famous Views of Edo”). “One Hundred Famous Views of Edo” is a collection of woodblock prints, created between the years of 1856-1858, that focused on the landscape of Tokyo, Japan. Hiroshige is famous for his landscape prints and this project did not disappoint (“ANDO HIROSHIGE BIOGRAPHY”). It is full of beautiful scenery and colorful pictures. I have left a link

Paintings that were influenced in Korea was the production of genre production with entertaining portraits of life. Additionally, Buddhist paintings of the Koryo period, landscapes were first painted in the 18th century when China was losing control from Korea. Though it was still influenced by the Chinese, it pursued its own path. There were 2 different genre paintings developed, one was a representation of the customs and culture in Choson society (1392-1910). The other one developed with the intention to show the daily activities of some rural communities that was developed in the 17th century.

Utagawa Kuniyoshi’s Tatsu Tora (woodblock, 37 x 25 cm., c. 1835) is a stunning portrayal of a tiger staring intently into the eyes of a dragon next to a rushing waterfall. Derived from the Edo Period in nineteenth century Japan, this elaborate print symbolizes in and yo; the balance of energies in the Universe. Through Kuniyoshi’s utilization of space, a color palette that consists of both muted and saturated colors, and his creation of implied texture by etching a wide variety of lines, an undeniable sense of balance is established throughout the work of art.

The seventeenth century painting, A Wooden Landscape with Travelers, by Joris van der Haagan was a great example of a work that was meant to be an allusion of picture. The detail of this work is extreme, with every leaf to every blade of grass carefully painted separately in order to build up the illusion that it was real life. This painting is nothing new of the time because many artists at this time were focused on the extreme realism of art. However, as time went on, artists like George Bellows began to work in a new style that used a looser, more careless, style of brushstrokes. This technique that Bellows used is known as colorito. By examining his painting up close, the viewer would notice that the people in his landscape are simply quick brushstrokes of paint, made to look realistic from afar, but simply lines and splotches from a closer viewpoint. Unlike Hagaan’s painting, where everything is so finely tuned and perfected, there are imperfections and fewer details in Bellows’

In Praise of Shadows, Jun’ichiro Tanizaki discusses about traditional Japanese aesthetics in contrast to the changes occurring in architecture, drama, food, beauty and other aspects of Japanese culture in conjunction with the rush of progress; the adoption of western values. This created an unbalanced clash of two contrasting culture- the western’s bright progressive and aggressive modern technology challenging Japanese’s softer, quieter aesthetic tradition.

I suppose that the art of Japan influenced the art of the West because of the beauty, the simplicity, and the colors. Also, in my opinion, I think that they have been influenced because of the increased contact between them after the trading started again. The Westerners started

After Japanese ports started to trade with the West, woodblock prints bearing Japanese artwork were used by European artists for artistic inspirations. The prints were inexpensive and could easily serve as souvenirs, making significant demand among European artists of the time. The masterful use of color and imagination made the Ukiyo-e prints extremely popular. At the same time, the characteristics of Japanese art were markedly different from the traditional European forms of aesthetic expression. The asymmetrical compositions, strong diagonals, elongated figures, and the flatness of surface influenced the Post-Impressionist age heavily. European painters, for instance, Claude Monet, Paul Gauguin, Vincent Van Gogh all admired and managed to