Japanese Western-Style Painting
Introduction
The history of art in Japan begins with ceramics production in the tenth-millennium B.C.E by the early inhabitants of the region. Development of religious and secular traditions contributed to the growth of art in Japan featuring Confucian and Buddhist themes such as the Zen philosophy. Over years, Japanese art gained considerable influence from foreign cultures particularly China and Korea (Akiyama, 2000, p.64). The western culture had vast influence on various parts of the world and gained identification as part of modernization. On the verge of economic development, Japan made a crucial decision to embrace modernity since it promised the growth of the nation in all aspects. Trade was the major beneficiary of interaction with the West and it facilitated the flow of cheap commodities from Europe into Japan and the exportation of valuable resources from Japan.
Western Influence
Industrialization emerged in Japan and subsequently influenced the country economically, politically, and socially. Lifestyles of the Japanese people, therefore, changed and began conformity to the western culture. Fashion, art, and language among other aspects began shifting towards the western culture and less towards Japanese way of life. Paintings hold evidence of these changes since materials, canvas, and execution of Japanese paintings took a different turn to reflect the influence of westernization. With the adoption of aspects of the West, Japanese people began going back to their roots and embracing their traditional painting methods to maintain authenticity. This paper highlights the influence of western culture on Japanese art and the reaction of these changes by the Japanese society.
Source: Polamuseum.or.jp, 2016
Fujishima Tagechi, profile of a woman, 1926-1927. The painting shows a Japanese woman whose dressing and grooming has experienced significant influence from the western culture. The painting depicted Japanese-Western style and it was brought about by artists that had schooled in Europe. The painting was done with oil and it reflected bright, unrestrained touch. The painting had a background depicting the country’s rich geography but the emphasis was on the individual, as depicted by the large size of the portrait of the woman.
Education played a major role in the adoption of the western culture into Japanese art segment. During the Meiji era, most parents sent their children to Europe for education instead of attending local institutions. The art students, therefore, gained basic training in Europe, which had a major influence on their interpretation and construction of artistic features. Embracing Western education influenced the Japanese society in every aspect due to the adoption of a western outlook. Learning institutions in Japan also began teaching Western art elements and trained artists into incorporating these elements into traditional Japanese paintings. The technological arts school opened in Japan employing Italian instructors to teach students the Western approach to art (Bowie, 2001, p.101). Adoption of a western lifestyle evidently influenced the perspectives of these artists and their conceptualization of ideas before recording them on the canvas. Influences from the West came in different forms most of them evident from the changing approached to paintings.
The Japanese painting style experienced significant influence from the west evident from the changes in painting styles. Painters used ink and water and used brushes throughout their paintings until the introduction of oil through interaction with the west. Western stylistic elements perspective and shadows featured in the works of Utagawa Sadahide, a prominent artist, and became part of Japanese paintings. The introduction of western elements such as light and shadows to Japanese painting changed the perspective of painters and contributed to the growth of this segment.
Source: Polamuseum.or.jp., 2016
Mitsutani Kunishiro, nude woman under a tree, 1921. The painting depicts a woman who has stripped off her traditions and instead adopted a free-spirited life that encourages her expression. Again, the painting was a reflection of the Japanese-Western style that was gaining favor among young artists. The style depicted a unique from of expressing Japanese art. The individual was brightly colored to emphasize on modernity while the background was lush to depict a sense of originality. The painting was also done in oil to bring out the desired effect easily.
The paintings could now offer a vivid image of intended themes depicting the major happenings during the period. The paintings depicted the changing Japanese culture through providing a record of evident changes, particularly in architecture. Brick buildings were evident on the paintings showing the extensive western influence on the Japanese culture, especially in urban areas. A western look is evident from the paintings featuring amused people and depicting a growing western influence.
National Identity
The wind of modernity blew away the highly traditional culture depicted by the Japanese paintings triggering the need for the people to reclaim their traditions. This emerged in the era of restoration where the government realized the overwhelming influence of the western culture and began questioning its benefits to the people. Japanese people discovered that modernization did not amount to westernization, and the nation could embrace industrialization while maintaining traditions. There was, therefore, a distinction between westernization and modernization, and both were independent elements.
Restoration mainly focused on the social aspect since western culture had caused a significant influence on the Japanese traditional culture. Various campaigns emerged aiming at eliminating this influence and embracing traditions as well as selling them to the outside world. In a bid to become a cultural destination, Japan needed a distinct cultural identification for identity purposes hence ensure its authenticity. Art became a focal point of promoting the restoration agenda since it could tell the story of the people and record various cultural practices (Mason, 2000, p.113). Okakura Tenshin is a major contributor to the Japanese painting as he attempted to create a national painting style in Japan. Educational institutions adopted his contributions in developing painting themes that promoted nationality of the people.
Okakura and his associates contributed to the awareness of national identity in the Meiji period and the overall art development (Weston, 2004, p.37). He proposed an art education system to teach traditional themes full of originality of interpretation. Victoria Weston in her research explores the incorporation of arts education in the school curriculum. This taught upcoming artists the basics of Japanese culture and important elements in authentic Japanese painting. This aimed at ensuring uniformity and originality in Japanese paintings hence ensuring a sense of national identity. The Weston research illuminates historical events relating to art, nation-building, and institutional formation with the aim of materializing national identity.
Cooperation of Yoga and Nihonga
Criticism emerged because of the strong wave of modernization that hit Japan in the Meiji period. Artists recognized its significant influence on the cultural identity of the country since it had taken over. Critics argued against westernization of Japanese art since this would lead to loss of identity and authenticity derived from art. They disregarded the positive influence of westernization on Japanese art through enrichment and refinement of images. Instead, they proposed the strict use of traditional artistic techniques that adhered to contemporary tastes of customers. The art critics lead to the emergence of two distinct segments of art in Japan; yoga (Western-style painting) and Nihonga (Japanese painting).
However, after the strong influence of westernization on the Japanese paintings, it became difficult to ignore its beneficial input. The nihonga artists, therefore, adopted some of the western concepts such as shading and perspective. The artists also use Chinese ink in the execution of nihonga paintings indicating the appreciation of positive contributions of foreign cultures. The introduction of nihonga led to the declining influence of the yoga school of thinking that involves oil painting, pastels, watercolors, ink sketches, etching, and lithography (Miyagawa, 2002, p.91). This required the cooperation of both segments to develop a mature painting sector characterized by quality images.
Artists recognized the need to incorporate these antagonistic views to modern art since it contributed immensely to the promotion of authenticity and national identity. The two art segments became highly prominent in modern Japanese art and formed the basis of artists’ identification. They are important elements in the promotion of Japanese paintings to the outside world and in maintaining national identity.
Conclusion
Modernization paved the way for the western culture influence on the Japanese art, which contributed, to its growth. In the blink of modernization, every sector in Japan received major influence evident in the paintings done during this period. Education became the tool of influence by training artists in taking a western approach to Japanese art. They acquired various western techniques that revolutionized art in Japan and made great improvements in its execution. The western-style painting became a common element in Japanese painting and contributed to the refinement of images depicted on the paintings (Winther-Tamaki, 2012, p.58). However, this triggered criticisms among artists who opposed adoption of a western approach in the preparation of art. They proposed observance of traditional painting styles that depicted the traditions and culture of the people. This would contribute to the development of national identity whose need emerged after the huge wave of westernization. Some artists devoted to nationalism contributed in the development of uniformity and originality in the execution of paintings to come up with a standard Japanese painting style. Learning institutions once again played a major role in promoting this agenda where students learned Japanese themes and concepts. However, it is difficult to talk of Western-style painting without mention of traditional Japanese painting since they both influence each other. Cooperation of the two painting styles form the basis of Japanese painting and contribute to the growth of the sector experienced to date. Adoption of western painting concepts, therefore, had beneficial contributions to development of Japanese painting.
References
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Bowie, H. P., 2001. On the Laws of Japanese Painting; An Introduction To The Study Of The Art Of Japan, New York: Dover Publications.
Mason, P. E., 2000. History of Japanese Art, New York: Abrams.
Miyagawa, T., 2002.Modern Japanese Painting: An Art in Transition, Tokyo: Kodansha International Publications.
Polamuseum.or.jp., 2016. Nude Woman under a Tree: Mitsutani Kunishiro|Collection|POLA Museum of Art. [online] Available at: http://www.polamuseum.or.jp/english/collection/006-0212/ [Accessed 17 Mar. 2016].
Polamuseum.or.jp., 2016. Japanese western-style Paintings|Collection|POLA Museum of Art. [online] Available at: http://www.polamuseum.or.jp/english/collection/category/japanese-western-style-painting/page/5/ [Accessed 17 Mar. 2016].
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Weston V., 2004. Japanese Painting, and National Identity: Okakura Tenshin and His Circle. Chicago: University Of Michigan.
