Yayoi Kusama is unlikely to be able to answer what formed the basis of her career as an artist. She is 87 years old, her art is recognized throughout the world. There will soon be major exhibitions of her work in the US and Japan, but she hasn't told the world everything yet. “It’s still on its way. I'm going to create this in the future," says Kusama. She is called the most successful artist in Japan. In addition, she is the most expensive living artist: in 2014, her painting “White No. 28” was sold for $7.1 million.
Kusama lives in Tokyo and has been voluntarily in a psychiatric hospital for almost forty years. Once a day she leaves its walls to paint. She gets up at three o'clock in the morning, unable to sleep and wanting to spend her time productively at work. "I'm old now, but I'm still going to create more work And best works. More than I've done in the past. My mind is full of pictures,” she says.
(Total 17 photos)
Yayoi Kusama at an exhibition of his work in London in 1985. Photo: NILS JORGENSEN/REX/Shutterstock
From nine to six, Kusama works in his three-story studio from the comfort of a wheelchair. She can walk, but is too weak. A woman works on canvas laid out on tables or fixed to the floor. The studio is full of new paintings, bright works strewn with small specks. The artist calls this "self-silencing" - endless repetition that drowns out the noise in her head.
Before the 2006 Praemium Imperiale art awards in Tokyo. Photo: Sutton-Hibbert/REX/Shutterstock
Opening soon across the street new gallery, and another museum of her art is being built north of Tokyo. In addition, two major exhibitions of her work are opening. “Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors,” a retrospective of her 65-year career, opened at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington on February 23 and runs through May 14, before traveling to Seattle, Los Angeles, Toronto and Cleveland. The exhibition includes 60 paintings by Kusama.
Her polka dots cover everything from Louis Vuitton dresses to buses in her hometown. Kusama's work regularly sells for millions of dollars and can be found all over the world, from New York to Amsterdam. Exhibitions of the Japanese artist's works are so popular that measures are required to prevent crowds and riots. For example, in the Hirshhorn, tickets to the exhibition are sold for a certain time in order to somehow regulate the flow of visitors.
Presentation of the joint design of Louis Vuitton and Yayoi Kusama in New York in 2012. Photo: Billy Farrell Agency/REX/Shutterstock
But Kusama still needs outside approval. When asked in an interview whether she achieved her goal of becoming rich and famous decades ago, she said in surprise: “When I was little, I had a very hard time convincing my mother that I wanted to become an artist. Is it really true that I'm rich and famous?
Kusama was born in Matsumoto, in the mountains of central Japan, in 1929 into a wealthy and conservative family that sold seedlings. But it was not a happy home. Her mother despised her cheating husband and sent little Kusama to spy on him. The girl saw her father with other women, and this gave her a lifelong aversion to sex.
Louis Vuitton boutique window designed by Kusama in 2012. Photo: Joe Schildhorn/BFA/REX/Shutterstock
As a child, she began experiencing visual and auditory hallucinations. The first time she saw the pumpkin, she imagined that it was talking to her. The future artist coped with the visions by creating repeating patterns to drown out the thoughts in her head. Even in this at a young age art became a kind of therapy for her, which she would later call “art medicine.”
Yayoi Kusama's work on display at the Museum contemporary art Whitney in 2012. Photo: Billy Farrell Agency/REX/Shutterstock
Kusama's mother was strongly opposed to her daughter's desire to become an artist and insisted that the girl follow the traditional path. “She wouldn’t let me draw. She wanted me to get married,” the artist said in an interview. - She threw away my work. I wanted to throw myself under a train. Every day I fought with my mother, and therefore my mind was damaged.”
In 1948, after the end of the war, Kusama went to Kyoto to study traditional Japanese nihonga painting with strict rules. She hated this type of art.
One of the exhibits from the Yayoi Kusama exhibition at the Whitney Museum of Contemporary Art in 2012. Photo: Billy Farrell Agency/REX/Shutterstock
When Kusama lived in Matsumoto, she found a book by Georgia O'Keeffe and was amazed by its paintings. The girl went to the American embassy in Tokyo to find an article about O’Keefe in the directory there and find out her address. Kusama wrote her a letter and sent her some drawings, and to her surprise, American artist answered her.
“I couldn’t believe my luck! She was so kind that she responded to the sudden outburst of feelings of a modest Japanese girl whom she had never met in her life and had never even heard of,” the artist wrote in her autobiography “Infinity Net.”
Yayoi Kusama in her Louis Vuitton boutique window display in New York in 2012. Photo: Nils Jorgensen/REX/Shutterstock
Despite O'Keeffe's warnings that life was very difficult for young artists in the United States, not to mention single young girls in Japan, Kusama was unstoppable. In 1957, she managed to obtain a passport and visa. She sewed dollars into her dresses to circumvent strict post-war currency controls.
The first stop was Seattle, where she held an exhibition in a small gallery. Then Kusama went to New York, where she was bitterly disappointed. “Unlike post-war Matsumoto, New York was in every sense an evil and violent place. It turned out to be too stressful for me, and I soon became mired in neurosis.” To make matters worse, Kusama found herself in complete poverty. She served as a bed old door, and she fished fish heads and rotten vegetables out of trash cans to make soup from.
Installation Infinity Mirror Room - Love Forever (“Room with infinity mirrors - love forever”). Photo: Tony Kyriacou/REX/Shutterstock
This difficult situation prompted Kusama to immerse himself in his work even more. She began creating her first paintings in the Infinity Net series, covering huge canvases (one of them was 10 meters high) with mesmerizing waves of small loops that seemed to never end. The artist herself described them as follows: “White networks enveloping the black dots of silent death against the backdrop of the hopeless darkness of nothingness.”
Installation by Yayoi Kusama at the opening of the new building of the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art at the Gorky Central Park of Culture and Culture in Moscow in 2015. Photo: David X Prutting/BFA.com/REX/Shutterstock
This obsessive-compulsive repetition helped drive away the neurosis, but it did not always save. Kusama constantly suffered from bouts of psychosis and ended up in a New York hospital. Ambitious and determined, and happily accepting the role of an exotic Asian woman in a kimono, she joined the circle of influential people in the arts and associated with such recognized artists as Mark Rothko and Andy Warhol. Kusama later said that Warhol imitated her work.
Kusama soon gained a degree of fame and exhibited in crowded galleries. In addition, the artist’s fame became scandalous.
In the 1960s, while Kusama was obsessed with polka dots, she began staging happenings in New York City, encouraging people to strip naked in places like Central Park and the Brooklyn Bridge and painting their bodies with polka dots.
Pre-display at Art Basel in Hong Kong in 2013. Photo: Billy Farrell/BFA/REX/Shutterstock
Decades before the Occupy Wall Street movement, Kusama staged a happening in New York's financial district, declaring that she wanted to "destroy the men of Wall Street with polka dots." Around this time she began to cover various items- a chair, a boat, a stroller - with phallic-looking protrusions. “I started creating penises to cure my feelings of aversion to sex,” the artist wrote, describing how this creative process gradually turning the terrible into something familiar.
Installation "Passing Winter" at the Tate Gallery in London. Photo: James Gourley/REX/Shutterstock
Kusama never married, although she had a marriage-like relationship with artist Joseph Cornell for ten years while living in New York. “I didn’t like sex, and he was impotent, so we suited each other very well,” she said in an interview with Art Magazine.
Kusama became increasingly famous for her antics: she offered to sleep with US President Richard Nixon if he would end the war in Vietnam. “Let's decorate each other with polka dots,” she wrote to him in a letter. Interest in her art itself faded away, she found herself out of favor, and money problems began again.
Yayoi Kusama during a retrospective of her work at the Whitney Museum of Modern Art in New York in 2012. Photo: Steve Eichner/Penske Media/REX/Shutterstock
News of Kusama's escapades reached Japan. They began to call her a “national disaster,” and her mother said that it would be better if her daughter died of the disease in childhood. In the early 1970s, impoverished and failed, Kusama returned to Japan. She registered in a psychiatric hospital, where she still lives, and sank into artistic obscurity.
In 1989, the Center for Contemporary Art in New York staged a retrospective of her work. This was the beginning, albeit slow, of a revival of interest in Kusama’s art. She filled a mirrored room with pumpkins for an installation that was exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 1993 and had a major exhibition at MoMa in New York in 1998. This is where she once staged a happening.
At the My Eternal Soul exhibition eternal soul") at the National Art Center in Tokyo, February 2017. Photo: Masatoshi Okauchi/REX/Shutterstock
Over the past few years, Yayoi Kusama has become an international phenomenon. Modern gallery The Tate in London and the Whitney Museum in New York held major retrospectives that attracted huge crowds of visitors, and her iconic polka dot pattern became highly recognizable.
At the exhibition My Eternal Soul at the National Art Center in Tokyo, February 2017. Photo: Masatoshi Okauchi/REX/Shutterstock
The artist has no plans to stop working, but has begun to think about her mortality. “I don’t know how long I can survive even after death. There is a future generation that follows in my footsteps. It would be an honor for me if people enjoy looking at my work and if they are moved by my art.”
At the exhibition My Eternal Soul at the National Art Center in Tokyo, February 2017. Photo: Masatoshi Okauchi/REX/Shutterstock
Despite the commercialization of her art, Kusama thinks about the grave in Matsumoto - not in the family crypt, she inherited it from her parents anyway - and how not to turn it into a shrine. “But I’m not dying yet. I think I will live another 20 years,” she says.
At the exhibition My Eternal Soul at the National Art Center in Tokyo, February 2017. Photo: Masatoshi Okauchi/REX/Shutterstock
Japanese classical painting has a long and interesting story. The fine arts of Japan are presented in different styles and genres, each of which is unique in its own way. Ancient painted figurines and geometric motifs found on bronze dotaku bells and pottery shards date back to 300 AD.
Buddhist orientation of art
The art of wall painting was quite well developed in Japan; in the 6th century, images on the theme of Buddhist philosophy were especially popular. At that time, large temples were being built in the country, and their walls were everywhere decorated with frescoes painted based on scenes from Buddhist myths and legends. Ancient examples of wall paintings are still preserved in the Horyuji Temple near the Japanese city of Nara. Horyuji murals depict scenes from the life of Buddha and other gods. The artistic style of these murals is very close to the pictorial concept popular in China during the Song Dynasty.
The painting style of the Tang Dynasty gained particular popularity in the middle of the Nara period. The frescoes discovered in the Takamatsuzuka tomb date back to around the 7th century AD from this period. The artistic technique, formed under the influence of the Tang dynasty, subsequently formed the basis of the painting genre of kara-e. This genre maintained its popularity until the appearance of the first works in the Yamato-e style. Most of the frescoes and paintings are by unknown authors; today, many of the works from that period are kept in the Sesoin treasury.
The growing influence of new Buddhist schools such as Tendai influenced the broad religious focus of Japanese fine art in the 8th and 9th centuries. In the 10th century, which saw a special progress in Japanese Buddhism, the genre of raigozu, “welcome paintings” appeared, which depicted the arrival of Buddha in the Western Paradise. Early examples of raigozu, dating back to 1053, can be seen at the Bedo-in Temple, which survives in the city of Uji, Kyoto Prefecture.
Changing styles
In the middle of the Heian period, the Chinese kara-e style was replaced by the Yamato-e genre, which for a long time became one of the most popular and sought-after genres of Japanese painting. The new pictorial style was mainly used in painting folding screens and sliding doors. Over time, yamato-e also moved to horizontal emakimono scrolls. Artists who worked in the emaki genre tried to convey in their works all the emotionality of the chosen plot. The Genji Monogatari Scroll consisted of several episodes strung together, with artists of the time using quick brush strokes and bright, expressive colors.
E-maki is one of the oldest and most prominent examples of otoko-e, a genre of male portraiture. Women's portraits allocated to a separate genre of onna-e. Between these genres, in fact, just like between men and women, quite significant differences are visible. The onna-e style is colorfully represented in the design of the Tale of Genji, where the main themes of the drawings are romantic subjects and scenes from court life. The male otoko-e style is primarily an artistic depiction of historical battles and other important events in the life of the empire.
The classical Japanese art school has become fertile ground for the development and promotion of the ideas of contemporary art in Japan, in which the influence of pop culture and anime can be clearly seen. One of the most famous Japanese artists modernity can be called Takashi Murakami, whose work is devoted to depicting scenes from Japanese life of the post-war period and the concept of the maximum fusion of fine art and the mainstream.
From famous Japanese artists classical school we can name the following.
Tense Xubun
Syubun worked at the beginning of the 15th century, devoting a lot of time to studying the works of Chinese masters of the Song Dynasty, this man stood at the origins of Japanese visual genre. Shubun is considered the founder of the sumi-e style, monochrome ink painting. He made a lot of efforts to popularize the new genre, turning it into one of the leading areas of Japanese painting. Subun's students were many artists who later became famous, including Sesshu and the founder of the famous art school, Kano Masanobu. Many landscapes were attributed to Xubun, but his most famous work is traditionally considered “Reading in a Bamboo Grove.”
Ogata Korin (1658-1716)
Ogata Korin is one of the greatest artists in the history of Japanese painting, the founder and one of the brightest representatives of the rimpa artistic style. Korine boldly moved away from traditional stereotypes in his works, forming his own own style, the main characteristics of which were small forms and bright impressionism of the plot. Korin is known for his special skill in depicting nature and working with abstract color compositions. "Plum blossom red and white" is one of the most famous works Ogata Korina, his paintings “Chrysanthemums”, “Waves of Matsushima” and a number of others are also known.
Hasegawa Tohaku (1539-1610)
Tohaku is the founder of the Japanese Hasegawa school of art. For early period Tohaku's creativity is characterized by the influence of the famous school of Japanese painting 
Kano, but over time the artist formed his own unique style. In many ways, Tohaku’s work was influenced by the works of the recognized master Sesshu; Hosegawa even considered himself the fifth successor of this great master. Hasegawa Tohaku’s painting “Pines” has gained worldwide fame; his works “Maple”, “Pines and Flowering Plants” and others are also known.
Kano Eitoku (1543-1590)
The Kano school style dominated fine arts Japan is about four centuries old, and Eitoku Kano is perhaps one of the most famous and prominent representatives of this art school. Eitoku was favored by the authorities, the patronage of aristocrats and wealthy patrons could not but contribute to the strengthening of his school and the popularity of his works, no doubt very much talented artist. The eight-panel Cypress sliding screen, painted by Eitoku Kano, is a true masterpiece and shining example the scope and power of the Monoyama style. Other works by the master, such as “Birds and Trees of the Four Seasons”, “Chinese Lions”, “Hermits and a Fairy” and many others, look no less interesting.
Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849)
Hokusai – greatest master genre of ukiyo-e (Japanese woodcut). Hokusai's work has received worldwide recognition, his fame in other countries is not comparable to the popularity of most Asian artists, his work " A big wave in Kanagawa" has become something of a calling card for Japanese fine art on the world art scene. On his creative path, Hokusai used more than thirty pseudonyms; after sixty, the artist devoted himself entirely to art, and it was this time that is considered the most fruitful period of his work. Hokusai's works influenced the work of Western masters of impressionism and the post-impressionist period, including the work of Renoir, Monet and van Gogh.
Has a very rich history; its tradition is vast, with Japan's unique position in the world greatly influencing the dominant styles and techniques of Japanese artists. Known fact That Japan was quite isolated for many centuries is due not only to geography, but also to the dominant Japanese cultural tendency toward isolation that has marked the country's history. During the centuries of what we might call “Japanese civilization,” culture and art developed separately from those in the rest of the world. And this is even noticeable in the practice of Japanese painting. For example, Nihonga paintings are among the main works of Japanese painting practice. It is based on over a thousand years of tradition, and the paintings are usually created with brushes on either Vashi (Japanese paper) or Egina (silk).
However, Japanese art and painting have been influenced by foreign artistic practices. First, it was Chinese art in the 16th century and Chinese painting and the Chinese art tradition, which was particularly influential in several aspects. As of the 17th century, Japanese painting was also influenced Western traditions. In particular, during the pre-war period, which lasted from 1868 to 1945, Japanese painting was influenced by impressionism and European romanticism. At the same time, new European artistic movements were also significantly influenced by Japanese artistic techniques. In art history, this influence is called "Japaneseism", and it is especially significant for the Impressionists, Cubists and artists associated with modernism.
Long story Japanese painting can be seen as a synthesis of several traditions that create parts of a recognized Japanese aesthetic. First of all, Buddhist art and painting methods, as well as religious painting, left a significant mark on the aesthetics of Japanese paintings; water-ink painting of landscapes in the tradition of Chinese literary painting is another important element recognized in many famous Japanese paintings; paintings of animals and plants, especially birds and flowers, are what are commonly associated with Japanese compositions, as are landscapes and scenes from everyday life. Finally, ancient ideas about beauty from philosophy and culture had a great influence on Japanese painting Ancient Japan. Wabi, which means transient and rugged beauty, sabi (the beauty of natural patina and aging), and yugen (deep grace and subtlety) continue to influence ideals in the practice of Japanese painting.
Finally, if we concentrate on selecting the ten most famous Japanese masterpieces, we must mention ukiyo-e, which is one of the most popular genres of art in Japan, even though it belongs to printmaking. It dominated Japanese art from the 17th to 19th centuries, with artists belonging to this genre creating woodcuts and paintings of subjects such as beautiful girls, Kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers, as well as scenes from history and folk tales, travel scenes and landscapes, flora and fauna and even erotica.
It is always difficult to compile a list of the best paintings from artistic traditions. Many amazing works will be excluded; however, this list features ten of the most recognizable Japanese paintings in the world. This article will present only paintings created from the 19th century to the present day.
Japanese painting has an extremely rich history. Over the centuries, Japanese artists have developed a large number of unique techniques and styles that are Japan's most valuable contribution to the world of art. One of these techniques is sumi-e. Sumi-e literally means "ink drawing" and combines calligraphy and ink painting to create a rare beauty of brush-drawn compositions. This beauty is paradoxical - ancient yet modern, simple yet complex, bold yet subdued, undoubtedly reflecting the spiritual basis of art in Zen Buddhism. Buddhist priests introduced solid ink blocks and bamboo brushes to Japan from China in the sixth century, and over the past 14 centuries Japan has developed a rich heritage of ink painting.
Scroll down and see 10 Japanese Painting Masterpieces
1. Katsushika Hokusai “The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife”
One of the most recognizable Japanese paintings is “The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife.” It was written in 1814 famous artist Hokusai. If you follow strict definitions, this amazing work Hokusai cannot be considered a painting, as it is a woodcut of the ukiyo-e genre from the book Young Pines (Kinoe no Komatsu), which is a three-volume shunga book. The composition depicts a young ama diver entwined sexually with a pair of octopuses. This image was very influential in the 19th and 20th centuries. The work influenced more late artists such as Félicien Rops, Auguste Rodin, Louis Aucock, Fernand Knopf and Pablo Picasso.
2. Tessai Tomioka “Abe no Nakamaro writes a nostalgic poem while watching the moon”
Tessai Tomioka is the pseudonym of a famous Japanese artist and calligrapher. He is considered the last major artist in the bunjing tradition and one of the first major artists Nihonga style. Bunjinga was a school of Japanese painting that flourished in the late Edo era among artists who considered themselves literati or intellectuals. Each of these artists, including Tessaya, developed their own style and technique, but they were all great admirers of Chinese art and culture.
3. Fujishima Takeji “Sunrise over the Eastern Sea”
Fujishima Takeji was a Japanese artist known for his work in developing Romanticism and Impressionism in the yoga (Western style) art movement in late XIX- beginning of the 20th century. In 1905, he traveled to France, where he was influenced by the French movements of the time, particularly Impressionism, as can be seen in his painting Sunrise over the Eastern Sea, which was painted in 1932.
4. Kitagawa Utamaro “Ten types of female faces, a collection of ruling beauties”
Kitagawa Utamaro was a prominent Japanese artist who was born in 1753 and died in 1806. He is certainly best known for a series called "Ten Types female faces. Collection of ruling beauties, themes Great love classical poetry" (sometimes called "Women in Love", containing separate engravings "Naked Love" and "Thoughtful Love"). He is one of the most important artists belonging to the ukiyo-e woodcut genre.
5. Kawanabe Kyosai “Tiger”
Kawanabe Kyosai was one of the most famous Japanese artists of the Edo period. His art was influenced by the work of Tohaku, a 16th-century Kano school artist who was the only artist of his time to paint screens entirely in ink on a delicate background of powdered gold. Although Kyosai is known as a cartoonist, he painted some of the most famous paintings in Japanese history art of the 19th century century. "Tiger" is one of those paintings that Kyosai used watercolor and ink to create.
6. Hiroshi Yoshida “Fuji from Lake Kawaguchi”
Hiroshi Yoshida is known as one of the largest figures of the Shin-hanga style (Shin-hanga is art movement in Japan at the beginning of the 20th century, during the Taisho and Showa periods, which revived the traditional art of ukiyo-e, which took root in the Edo and Meiji periods (XVII - XIX centuries)). He trained in the tradition of Western oil painting, which was adopted from Japan during the Meiji period.
7. Takashi Murakami “727”
Takashi Murakami is probably the most popular Japanese artist of our time. His works sell for astronomical prices at major auctions, and his work is already inspiring new generations of artists not only in Japan, but also abroad. Murakami's art includes a range of mediums and is usually described as superflat. His work is known for his use of color, incorporating motifs from Japanese traditional and popular culture. The content of his paintings is often described as "cute", "psychedelic" or "satirical".
8. Yayoi Kusama “Pumpkin”
Yaoi Kusama is also one of the most famous Japanese artists. She creates in a variety of media including painting, collage, scat sculpture, performance, environmental art and installation, most of which demonstrate her thematic interest in psychedelic colour, repetition and pattern. One of the most famous series of this great artist is the “Pumpkin” series. Covered in a polka dot pattern, a regular pumpkin in bright yellow is presented against a net background. Collectively, all such elements form a visual language that is unmistakably true to the artist's style, and has been developed and refined over decades of painstaking production and reproduction.
9. Tenmoya Hisashi “Japanese Spirit No. 14”
Tenmyoya Hisashi is a contemporary Japanese artist who is known for his neo-nihonga paintings. He took part in the revival old tradition Japanese painting, which is the complete opposite of modern Japanese painting. In 2000, he also created his new butouha style, which demonstrates a strong attitude towards the authoritative art system through his paintings. "Japanese Spirit No. 14" was created as part of artistic scheme"BASARA", interpreted in Japanese culture as the rebellious behavior of the lower aristocracy during the Warring States period, to deny the power to achieve ideal image life, dressing in lush and luxurious clothes and acting out of free will, not in accordance with their social class.
10. Katsushika Hokusai “The Great Wave Off Kanagawa”
Finally, "The Great Wave off Kanagawa" is probably the most recognizable japanese painting ever written. This is actually the most famous work art created in Japan. It depicts huge waves threatening boats off the coast of Kanagawa Prefecture. Although sometimes mistaken for a tsunami, the wave, as the painting's title suggests, is most likely simply abnormally high. The painting is made in the ukiyo-e tradition.
From:
Which covers many techniques and styles. Throughout its history, it has undergone a large number of changes. New traditions and genres were added, and the original Japanese principles remained. Along with amazing story Japanese painting is also ready to present many unique and interesting facts.
Ancient Japan
The first styles appear in the most ancient historical period of the country, even BC. e. Then art was quite primitive. First, in 300 BC. e., various geometric figures, which were performed on pottery using sticks. Such a discovery by archaeologists as ornamentation on bronze bells dates back to a later time.
A little later, already in 300 AD. e., appear cave drawings, which are much more diverse than geometric patterns. These are already full-fledged images with images. They were found inside crypts, and, probably, the people who are painted on them were buried in these burial grounds.
In the 7th century AD. e. Japan adopts writing that comes from China. Around the same time, the first paintings came from there. Then painting appears as a separate sphere of art.
Edo
Edo is far from the first and not the last painting, but it brought a lot of new things to culture. Firstly, it is the brightness and colorfulness that were added to the usual technique, performed in black and gray tones. Most an outstanding artist This style is considered Sotasu. He created classic paintings, but his characters were very colorful. Later he switched to nature, and most of his landscapes were painted against gilded backgrounds.
Secondly, during the Edo period, exoticism, the namban genre, appeared. It used modern European and Chinese techniques that were intertwined with traditional Japanese styles.
And thirdly, the Nanga school appears. In it, artists first completely imitate or even copy the works of Chinese masters. Then a new branch appears, which is called bunjing.
Modernization period
The Edo period gives way to Meiji, and now Japanese painting is forced to enter a new stage of development. At this time, genres such as the Western and the like were becoming popular around the world, so the modernization of art became a common state of affairs. However, in Japan, a country where all people revere traditions, the state of affairs at this time was significantly different from what happened in other countries. Competition between European and local technicians is fierce here.
The government at this stage gives preference to young artists who show great promise of improving their skills in Western styles. So they send them to schools in Europe and America.
But this was only at the beginning of the period. The fact is that well-known critics criticized quite strongly western art. To avoid a lot of fuss about this issue, European styles and the techniques began to be banned at exhibitions, their display ceased, as did their popularity.
The emergence of European styles
Next comes the Taisho period. At this time, young artists who left to study in foreign schools come back to their homeland. Naturally, they bring with them new styles of Japanese painting, which are very similar to European ones. Impressionism and post-impressionism appear.
On at this stage Many schools are being formed in which ancient Japanese styles are being revived. But it is impossible to completely get rid of Western tendencies. Therefore, we have to combine several techniques in order to please both lovers of the classics and fans of modern European painting.
Some schools are funded by the state, thanks to which it is possible to preserve many of the national traditions. Private owners are forced to follow the lead of consumers who wanted something new; they were tired of the classics.
Painting from the Second World War
After the onset of wartime, Japanese painting remained aloof from events for some time. It developed separately and independently. But this couldn't go on forever.
Over time, when the political situation in the country becomes worse, high and respected figures attract many artists. Some of them began to create in patriotic styles even at the beginning of the war. The rest begin this process only on orders from the authorities.
Accordingly, Japanese fine art was unable to develop particularly during the Second World War. Therefore, for painting it can be called stagnant.
Eternal Suibokuga
Japanese sumi-e painting, or suibokuga, literally means “ink painting.” This determines the style and technique of this art. It came from China, but the Japanese decided to call it their own. And initially the technique did not have any aesthetic side. It was used by monks for self-improvement while studying Zen. Moreover, they first drew pictures and subsequently trained their concentration while viewing them. The monks believed that strict lines, blurry tones and shadows - all that is called monochrome - help to improve.
Japanese ink painting, despite the wide variety of paintings and techniques, is not as complex as it might seem at first glance. It is based on only 4 plots:
- Chrysanthemum.
- Orchid.
- Plum branch.
- Bamboo.
A small number of plots does not make mastering the technique quick. Some masters believe that learning lasts a lifetime.
Despite the fact that sumi-e appeared a long time ago, it is always in demand. Moreover, today you can meet masters of this school not only in Japan, it is widespread far beyond its borders.
Modern period
After the end of World War II, art in Japan flourished only in major cities, villagers and villagers had enough to worry about. For the most part, artists tried to turn away from the losses of wartime and depict on canvas modern city life with all its embellishments and features. European and American ideas were successfully adopted, but this state of affairs did not last long. Many masters began to gradually move away from them towards Japanese schools.
Traditional style has always remained fashionable. Therefore, modern Japanese painting can differ only in the technique of execution or the materials used in the process. But most artists do not perceive various innovations well.
It is impossible not to mention the fashionable modern subcultures, such as anime and similar styles. Many artists try to blur the line between the classics and what is in demand today. For the most part, this state of affairs is due to commerce. Classics and traditional genres in fact, they don’t buy, therefore, it is unprofitable to work as an artist in your favorite genre, you need to adapt to fashion.
Conclusion
Undoubtedly, Japanese painting is a treasure trove of fine art. Perhaps, the country in question was the only one that did not follow Western trends and did not adapt to fashion. Despite many blows during the advent of new techniques, Japanese artists were still able to defend national traditions in many genres. This is probably why paintings made in classical styles are highly valued at exhibitions today.
Hokusai, an 18th-century Japanese artist, created a dizzying number artwork. Hokusai worked into old age, invariably asserting that “everything he did before the age of 70 was not worthwhile and not worth attention.”
Perhaps the most famous Japanese artist in the world, he always stood out from his fellow contemporaries for his interest in everyday life. Instead of depicting glamorous geishas and heroic samurai, Hokusai painted workers, fishermen, and urban genre scenes, which were not yet a subject of interest for Japanese art. He also took a European approach to composition.
Here short list key terms that will help you navigate a little in Hokusai’s work.
1 Ukiyo-e are prints and paintings popular in Japan from the 1600s to the 1800s. A movement in Japanese fine art that developed from the Edo period. This term comes from the word "ukyo", which means "changeable world". Uikiye is a hint at the hedonistic joys of the burgeoning merchant class. In this direction, Hokusai is the most famous artist.
Hokusai used at least thirty pseudonyms throughout his life. Despite the fact that the use of pseudonyms was a common practice among Japanese artists of that time, he significantly exceeded other major authors in the number of pseudonyms. Hokusai's pseudonyms are often used to periodize the stages of his work.
2 The Edo period is the time between 1603 and 1868 in Japanese history, when economic growth and a new interest in art and culture were noted.
3 Shunrō is the first of Hokusai's aliases.
4 Shunga literally means "picture of spring" and "spring" is Japanese slang for sex. Thus, these are engravings of an erotic nature. They were created by the most respected artists, including Hokusai.
5 Surimono. The latest “surimono”, as these custom prints were called, were a huge success. Unlike ukiyo-e prints, which were intended for mass audiences, surimono were rarely sold to the general public.
6 Mount Fuji is a symmetrical mountain that happens to be the tallest in Japan. Over the years, it has inspired many artists and poets, including Hokusai, who published the ukiyo-e series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji. This series includes Hokusai's most famous prints.
7 Japonism - the lasting influence that Hokusai had on subsequent generations Western artists. Japonisme is a style inspired by the vibrant colors of ukiyo-e prints, lack of perspective, and compositional experimentation.
