Abstraction is any
art that does not represent observed aspects of nature or transforms visible
forms into a stylized image. Another
definition (which I prefer) is that abstraction is the extreme simplification
of forms, space, and lighting. Any way you look at it, the term defines much of
what has been created in the 20th and
21st centuries around the world. It could also apply to works
before the twentieth century, which constantly awes me. I’ve talked about the
strict interpretation of “abstraction” in
previous posts, but I think it always deserves to be repeated just so we
don’t get complacent with the idea that “abstraction” is a twentieth-century
invention.
Japanese landscape painting
ultimately derived from Chinese models, but
quickly developed a distinctive Japanese style that was heavily influenced by
Zen Buddhism. Chinese landscapes often hinted at great distance with large
blank areas that indicated mist, usually between the foreground and middle
ground, and middle ground and background. Suggestion was a key element in
Chinese landscapes to intimate distance. It is the “atmospheric perspective”
that eventually became part of Japanese landscapes. It represented the Zen idea of the “vast
emptiness” of the soul before enlightenment.
The great tradition of landscape painting in Japan, which
persists to the present day, was translated into the woodblock prints that were so popular during the Edo period (1615–1868) in Japan. The
heyday of the landscape woodblock prints was the early nineteenth century,
characterized by artists such as Hiroshige
(1797–1858) and Hokusai (1760–1849). The
landscape prints from the early 19th century in Japan had a profound
influence on western painting, particularly among the Impressionists.
Totoya Hokkei (1780–1850)
was one of Hokusai’s best students. He had initially studied landscape painting
with the noble Kano School, but eventually
became Hokusai’s pupil, making his Ukiyo-e
debut with illustrations for comic novels around 1800. He continued to produce
prints of everyday life, but preferred landscape more and more, particularly
after Hokusai published his famous Thirty-Six
Views of Mount Fuji in 1836. While impelled to produce landscapes, his
style was quite different from the master. The simplicity and lightness of
value sets him way apart from other Ukiyo-e artists who were more concerned
with depicting specific places.
In this landscape, Hokkei
displays the atmospheric perspective of painting, while reducing the landscape
forms to hazy, simplified shapes. The effect is something that would resurface
later in the century in Europe in such landscapes as Edgar Degas’ (1834–1917) monotypes.
 |
 |
| Forest in the Mountains (MOMA-P3090) |
Further examples of pre-20th-century abstract in
Japanese art:
(part of the so-called “flung ink school”)
(Kiyohara is a woman)
Examples of Chinese landscape that influenced the Japanese:
Activity: Draw an
atmospheric landscape. Using colored chalks, pastels, or charcoal, create a
landscape that has the suggestion of depth through the use of smudging the
medium. Draw an imaginary landscape in which the foreground, middle ground, and
background are each separated from on another by areas of mist (smudged
medium). If blending sticks are not available, put a tissue or paper towel over
the finger and smudge (blend) areas of medium together to suggest distance
between the parts of the landscape.
Correlations to Davis
programs: Explorations in Art Grade 1: 4.21; Explorations in Art Grade 4:
4.22; Explorations of Art Grade 5: 6.32; Explorations in Art Grade 6: 2.8; A
Personal Journey: 5.4; A Community Connection: 4.5; A Global Pursuit: 7.5;
Exploring Visual Design: 2, 5; The Visual Experience: 13.5; Discovering Art
History: 4.4
No comments:
Post a Comment
We appreciate your feedback. Thanks for blogging with us. Your friends at Davis!