Yamato-e, a style of Japanese painting - Research Paper Example

Yamato-e: A Style of Japanese Painting Yamato-e is a form of Japanese painting that evolved during the Heian period; a time when the Japanese culture predominated. Unlike the current cultural paintings in the Japanese culture which are mostly influenced by the Chinese and western form of paintings, Yamato-e differed in its approach to the themes it featured (Kitaji 1). The Yamato-e’s central themes depicted were mostly livingthings and their surroundings (Kitaji 1). The Yamato-e features the sketches of the livelihood of the Japanese people, their way of life, their surroundings, the four seasons of the year and the activities associated with each season in a way a pictorial format (Kitaji 1). Yamato-e later evolved to feature content of a particular convention as opposed to the general art form with borrowed similarities from the Chinese form of art, Kara-e (‘metmuseum.org’). The subject matter of Yamato-e shifted its focus on distinctive, high stylized features and facial demonstrations that were abbreviated (Anna 1). Yamato-e was mostly characterized by large bands of clouds that were used to separate time and space and another unique style known as Fukinuki Yatai which demonstrate the insides of building by removing part of the roof (Anna 1). This technique was one of its own and was used to reveal the interior of a house or building from the outside. Yamato-e’s interior depiction of the inside of buildings gives a sense of voyeurism which is demonstrated through its dominant usage for description in classical literally works such as poetry and novels (Anna 1). there is nowhere that Yamato-e’s art finds more usage and success than in The Tale of Genji dating back to 2006.570, a famous Japanese novel by a Heian court lady, Murasaki Shikibu (Anna 1). In the novel, Shikibu uses the Fukinuki Yatai technique to illustrate the events of The Ivy scene, which uses heavy elements of the cloud bands that are brown in colour gives the pictorial borders a rich embellishments making the reader give more attention to the narrative (Anna 1). Voyeurism is conveyed towards the later half part of the novel through the illustration of prince Genji and the maidservant in the palace through the removal of the roof, whereby the reader can see the events inside the palace (Anna 1). Therefore, it can be said that Yamato-e, as a form of art, has evolved to suit the demands and exhaustive illustration of human feelings on subject matters that are of concern to the Japanese people in an aesthetic way and its quest to progress with the daily unfolding events that are important to them. The Yamato-e’s is considered to have developed along side other unique Japanese cultures such as the growth of the Waka poetry (1975.268.59), of the Heian period characterized by thirty one syllables upon which the papers on which they were written on heavily demonstrated the decorations and illustrations of the Yamato-e (Anna 1). The only surviving decorations of Yamato-e in the Heian period were the decorations of the Waka poetry which were fewer compared to the ones that were mostly use on the moving walls which formed the basis of architectural elements of the buildings and were lost when the walls were destroyed and rebuild with other generations (Anna 1). Another event that led to the progress of Yamato-e is a handscroll in the museum named the Illustrated Legends of the Kitano Shrine (25.224) that can be dated back to the Kamakura period (1185-1333) providing an insight into the founders and the nature of the early Shinto religion (Anna 1). Yamato-e much usage can be seen in the handscroll of the legend through the use billowing dark clouds hovering over the Heian capital depicting the spirit of one of its statesman Michizane, exerting his revenge upon the capital for being falsely executed on the allegations of treason (Anna 1). The dark hovering clouds are used to illustrate the spirit and convey the feeling of anger to the reader of the scroll. In explaining the genesis of the religion of Shinto and its how the Kitano shrine came to be, Yamato-e is used intensively throughout the narrative depictions in an effective way. Another way in which Yamato-e developed was through its shift in focus towards the Buddhist leaders and nobles who appealed to warriors (Anna 1). The extensive use of the cloud bands to separate the episodes of the life events in the scrolls that tells the narrative of the Japanese monk Shinran who dates back to 1173-1263 (Anna 1). The paintings, though painted in the Edo period, the handscrolls bear much resemblance with those ones dating back to the Heian period (Anna 1). A factor that led to further development of the Yamato-e was the threat if faced from the development of ink painting styles that from China that were meant to attract the elite in Japan (Anna 1). Painters from the Tosa School realizing the impact the ink paintings would have on their culture, sought to revive Yamato-e tradition (Anna 1). A pair of folding screens in the Metropolitan Art Museum attributed to the Tosa Mitsunobu (1434 – 1535), Bamboo of the four seasons (1975.268.44, 45), and called Shikie was one of their common theme paintings (Anna 1). The paintings are a demonstration of the transformations and changes that occur to a bamboo as it cycles through the four seasons, with different colours being featured to reinforce the season giving the audience a realistic representation of the seasons for example the use of violets to denote springtime, new bamboo shoots to show summer, stalks entwined with reddish ivy to represent autumn and dusted with snow in winter (Anna 1). Since depicting the livelihood and activities of the Japanese people facilitated the progress of the Yamato-e, the tsukinami-e, a form of Yamato-e, as seen the museum, depicts the twelve months of the year and the related activities of the Japanese people surrounding each month (Anna 1). The museum’s collection of the tsikinami-e dates back to the Edo period and contains twelve paintings (Anna 1). The album has leaflets depicting the activities of carried out within a year. Each leaf depicts a month of the year in Kyoto (Anna 1). In the album in can be seen that the month of September was characterized by two major events: the blossoming of the chrysanthemums and the doll festival held on the ninth day of the ninth month (Anna 1). This are conveyed through the depiction of ladies dressed in Heian court garb and dolls displayed on low tables (Anna 1). The illustrations also depict the elegant nature of the Heian and the activities it was characterized with (Anna 1). However, it can also be deduced that the doll festival begun during the Edo period when the album was made (Anna 1). It is during the Edo period that saw Yamato-e gain a mainstream popularity with the increasing social structures, large number of audience who started showing interest in the form of the art (Anna 1). This attracted the wealthy into purchasing the artifacts which they associated with nobility and more artists were drawn into the profession due to the new market in presented (Anna 1). Yamato-e in its struggle to survive influenced the growth of other popular art forms such as Rinpa style and ukiyo-e woodblock prints which also developed during the Edo period (Anna 1). The two pioneers of the two styles, Tawayara Sotatsu and Hon’ami Koetsu, apart from just drawing much inspiration from the Yamato-e artists, they fused it with new stylistic elements and reworked on the same too (Anna 1). Ukiyo-e features a focus on the Japanese people emphasizing their customs and livelihood in a contemporary way (Anna 1). It can be concluded that Yamato-e struggle to remain relevant has been propagated by the need to embrace the livelihood of the Japanese people in depicting cyclic events, telling legends and preserving history of heroes in a very unique and appealing way. The Yamato-e paintings influence on other forms of popular culture, its beauty and ability to find usage in popular classic works makes it both attractive and admirable. Fig.1.5 and Fig 2.5 showing the Yamato-e’s depiction of “off blown roof” in the novel The Tale of Genji Fig 3.6 showing the hovering rage cloud of Michizae in Illustrated Legends of Kitano Shrine Fig 3.8. Showing the transformation of the bamboo as portrayed in Shikie Works cited page Kitaji, Naoko. “Art in Biohistory (Living Creatures in Japanese Culture)”. In Four Seasons Deputed In Yamato-e. Biohistory Journal Winter 2004 https://www.brh.co.jp/en/seimeishi/journal/043/research_31.html Willmann, Anna. "Yamato-e Painting". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/yama/hd_yama.htm (October 2013)  Read More