Art Of China and Japan

Art Of China

Chinese Civilization retain many of its ancient traditions today. Beginning 4,000 years ago, iti s the oldest continuous culture in the history of the world

Art Historical Characteristics: The Chinese invented paper, porcelain and woodblock printing. Chinese artists captured the beauty of nature in paintings- fans, books, scrolls or paper or silk. The Chinese also produced sculpture and ceramic objects from terracotta/stoneware/porcelain for religious purposes and to honor the dead.

Army of Emperor Shi Huangdi Shaanxi Province, China 210 B.C.E. painted terracotta

Army of Emperor Shi Huangdi Shaanxi Province, China 210 B.C.E. painted terracotta

Army of Emperor Shi Huangdi Shaanxi Province, China 210 B.C.E. painted terracotta

Fan Kuan Travelers Among Mountains and Streams early 11th century hanging scroll, ink, and colors on silk 6 ft. 7 1/4 in. x 3 ft. 4 1/4 in.

Foguang Si Pagoda Yingxian, China 1056 C.E.

Zhou Jichang Arhats Giving Alms to Beggars 1178 C.E. ink and colors on silk 44 x 21 in.

Meiping vase C.E. Stoneware, Cizhou type with sgraffito decoration Jar, Ming dynasty, Xuande mark and period (1426– 1435) China Porcelain painted in underglaze blue; H. 19 in.

Japanese Art

Buddhism spread to Japan from China Intricate Buddhist temples built from wood. They used wood because the islands were made of volcanic rock and they could not use this stone to build their temples. The Japanese also created monumental bronze sculptures of Buddha. Beginning in the 8 th c., artists developed uniquely Japanese screen and woodblock prints. Woodblock printing is making prints by carving images in blocks of wood.

Great Buddha Bronze. (Height 35’) Kamakura, Japan.

Haniwa warrior figure from Gunma Prefecture, Japan 5th to 6th century C.E. low-fired clay 49 1/4 in. high

Ise Shrine Ise, Mie Prefecture, Japan originally 5th century C.E. rebuilt 1973

Phoenix Hall Byodoin, Uji, Japan 1053 C.E.

Japan, Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion), 1397 – It is literally covered in Gold Leaf

Flying Storehouse The Legends of Mount Shigi Chogosonshiji, Nara late 12th century handscroll ink and color on paper 1 1/2 ft. high

T ō sh ū sai Sharaku, famous Japanese print artist, known for his portraits of kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers Otani Oniji III in the Role of the Servant Edobei, 1794 The Actors Ichikawa Tomiemon (R) and Sanogawa Ichimatsu III (L) as Kanisaka Toda and Onayo, c. 1795

Detail of Burning of the Sanjo Palace 13th century C.E. handscroll, ink and colors on paper 16 1/4 in. high

Kano Motonobu Xiangyen Zhixian Sweeping with a Broom Muramachi Period, ca hanging scroll, ink and color on paper 5 ft. 7 3/8 in. x 2 ft. 10 3/4 in.

Hasegawa Tohaku Pine Forest Monoyama Period, late 16th C. one of a pair of six-panel screens ink on paper 5 ft. 1 3/8 in. x 11 ft. 4 in.

Katsushika Hokusai was a Japanese artist, ukiyo-e painter and printmaker. He was influenced by such painters as Sesshu, and other styles of Chinese painting. Born in Edo (now Tokyo), Hokusai is best known as author of the woodblock print series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji

Katsushika Hokusai The Great Wave off Kanagawa, from Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji series Edo Period, ca , woodblock print oban, ink and colors on paper 9 7/8 in. x 1 ft. 2 3/4 in. Hokusai's most famous work, and one of the best recognized works of Japanese art in the world is the one below. It depicts an enormous wave threatening boats off the coast of the prefecture of Kanagawa. While sometimes assumed to be a tsunami, the wave is, as the picture's title notes, more likely to be a large okinami ("wave of the open sea"). As in all the prints in the series, it depicts the area around Mount Fuji under particular conditions, and the mountain itself appears in the background.