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- Buncho (1764-1840) and Watanabe Kazan (1793-1841) began experimenting with realistic and Western-style art, others like Tanomura Chikuden (1777-1835) remained faithful to Chinese models. Painters like Yokoi Kinkoku (1761-1832), Yamamoto Baiitsu (1783-1856), Uragami Shunkin (1779-1846), Nukina Kaiku (1778-1863) and Okada Hanko (1782-1846), must also be mentioned among the great Nanga artists and are of the third generation of literati painters.
Being anti-establishment painters, many 19th century Nanga artists were leaders in opposing the authoritarian feudal government of the shogun. They supported the restoration of power to the emperor and led the way in the investigation of Western subjects. Nanga painter, Fujimoto Tesseki (1817-63), even died in a battle for the Loyalist cause.
The Chinese-inspired literati painting tradition of Nanga was a relatively late, atypical and short-lived phenomenon in Japan. Nanga arose in the early 18th century, but no longer flourished after the middle of the 19th century. The tradition, however, did survive into the early 20th century with the eccentric work of Tomioka Tessai (1837-1924), but in modern times it lost its intellectual fervour and ceased to be a powerful force in Japanese art.
Chinese literati painters valued strong brushwork in their paintings and a reverence for past masterpieces, while the Japanese Nanga artists, who were not burdened with these constraints, produced more whimsical paintings with freer brushstrokes and lighter colours. Some writers have accused the Nanga artists of misunderstanding the true essence of Chinese painting. However, the Nanga artists were copying the style of Ming and Qing literati painters, who themselves had been continuing the styles of earlier masters. Therefore, Nanga paintings should perhaps be viewed not as misinterpreting Chinese literati traditions, but as a further and natural extension or evolution of the Chinese time-honoured tradition of reverence for the past and a way to offer fresh ideas and new techniques. This greater leeway allowed for much more independent invention. Although the literati painting tradition in Japan lasted only about 150 years, many great masterpieces were produced. While the cultivated tastes of the literati had a deep impact on the arts of China, the literati tradition had a much smaller and less influential role in the arts of Japan.
Accessories of the Japanese Literati
A great deal has been written about the scholar�s studio in China, but there does not appear to be a study of a Japanese literati�s studio and the accessories they might collect. The Japanese literati-style artists probably collected Chinese-style accessories for the scholar�s studio and old paintings to serve as models. However, they had less access to Chinese products and to collecting antiquities, and so they probably ended up collecting many Japanese style writing accessories as well as Japanese ceramic and lacquer vessels. Another big difference between Chinese and Japanese literati studios would be the fact that the Chinese scholar tended to stand while painting and writing on a desk or table, whereas the Japanese literati-style painters would most likely have created their works of art kneeling on a tatami mat on the floor.
Regarding accessories accorded to the painter and calligrapher in Japan, we find beautiful lacquerware items, which could easily be associated with the literati, such as beautiful lacquer writing boxes (suzuribako), which carried brushes, inksticks, water droppers and inkstones that nicely fitted inside. Other accessories included small lacquer
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