Japan Muromachi Period PDF

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Summary

Professor: Dr. Louisa McDonald

Notes on a small lecture about the Muromachi Period of Japanese art history. Covers the rise of Zen painting in Japan and the Kano family painting tradition.

Required textbook is Gardner's Art Through the Ages by Helen Gardner...

Description

Art 266 | Japan Muromachi Period Ashikaga/Muromachi Period - Zen ● Inspiration: Zen (Chan) painting models from China followed by Japanese Zen monks: h  ttps://www.britannica.com/art/Chan-painting ● “Chinese style landscapes” warrior class preference for monochrome ink painting and Zen subject matter. ● Beginning of the KANO (family) painting tradition; professional artists painting in the Chinese ink monochrome style ○ Incorporates the style and subject matter of Chinese painting. ● There is constant warfare throughout this period until the beginning of the Edo period. Study Guide 11. Sesshu Toyo, splashed-ink-style  landscape, detail of the lower part of a hanging scroll, Muromachi period, 1495. Ink on paper, full scroll 4’ 10 1/4” X 1’ 7/8”; detail 4’ 1/2” high. Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo.  Sesshu is probably the best known and most well-beloved painters of Zen. He was one of the few people who were able to go to China and study Chinese tradition. Splash landscape already existed in China, but he was one of the first to use this style in Japan. The paintings are part of spiritual expression, represent a moment of enlightenment.

Compare to Liang Kai, following Figure 7-25. Chapter 16. China: LIANG KAI, Sixth Chan Patriarch Chopping Bamboo , Southern Song period, early 13th century. Hanging scroll, ink on paper, 2’ 5 1/4” high. Tokyo National Museum.

Figure 34-4 Kano  Motonobu, Zen Patriarch Xiangyen Zhixian Sweeping, from Daitokuji, Kyoto, Japan, Muromachi period, ca. 1513. Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper, 5’ 7 3/8” X 2’ 10 3/4”. Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo. 

FATHER OF KANO SCHOOL Tradition is a family enterprise. It's a craftsmanship that's passed on through generations. The artists all use the family name in this case. Kano Motonobu took advantage of the popularity and respect of Chinese monochrome painting, mastered their techniques, and passed it on.

The Kano family had almost a monopoly on Chinese monochrome paintings. The subject matter was a mimicry of Chinese painting. Figures depicted would usually be hermits isolated with huts, who represented ideals of humility and enlightenment. The Kano school secularized this ideal through their paintings....