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Japanese Painting
Japanese paintings, especially those
of the pre-modern era, tended to share several general
characteristics. They were painted with water-soluble colors and
ink using animal-hair brushes. Colors were applied to a fine
mulberry paper or silk surface. Formats included hanging scrolls
and hand scrolls, screens, door panels, and albums. Hanging
scrolls could be rolled up between viewings to keep out light,
dust, and insects. Screens (see Okyo Puppies among Bamboo in the Snow)
were constructed of multiple layers of paper, and sometimes a
final layer of silk, over a wooden lattice. Hinges were of
complex construction, allowing the screen to be folded in any
direction. Screens, which were movable, would be used as room
dividers or to create a private cell within a room. Door panels
were literally dividers between rooms and slid on wood tracks.
Their compositions were sometimes continuous around a room.
Albums and hand scrolls were intended to be shared among friends
and connoisseurs at private viewings.
Since screens and scrolls were
portable, they would be changed seasonally-and sometimes more
often. Paintings depicting a specific season would nearly always
be shown during that time of year, although occasionally in the
heat of summer it would be refreshing to view a painting of snow
in the mountains.
Many Japanese paintings incorporated
several shared aesthetic tendencies as well. Painters of
nonreligious subjects preferred working with an asymmetrical
composition because it added dynamism and a sense of movement to
a scene. Negative space-the open space around solid forms-often
played as important a role in a composition as the positive
areas. Calligraphy and calligraphic brush work in painting was
often a key factor in revealing the training and aesthetic
preferences of the artist. For connoisseurs, this type of brush
work also revealed the soul of the artist. In ink paintings,
rhythm and scintillating surface effects were achieved through
deft brush work. In color paintings on gold leaf, these effects
were produced instead through the play of forms on an ambiguous
ground or by creating an array of space pockets across the span
of the screen. Once color or ink was applied, it could not be
corrected or painted over as in an oil painting. Forms were
often partially hidden, as objects were considered to reach
their pinnacle of beauty and mystery when only half revealed.
Finally, Japanese artists considered the surface likeness of
painted objects to real objects to be of less importance than
capturing the soul of the subject through expressive means.
Other Related Topics:
Japanese Painters:
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Ceramics
Lacquer
Painting
Sculpture
Prints
LACMA
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