AP Art History

ART OF JAPAN

          Coral Reef - 12/8/2022

               Study for the

Islamic & Japanese Art Exam

Art of Japan

Key Ideas

•One of the best preserved continuous artistic traditions in the world!

•Zen Buddhism dominate Japan from the 6th century

(rejects worldliness, centered on austerity, meditation  and simplicity)

•Zen philosophy seen most readily in architecture-Pagoda/Temples

•Meditation is the key to enlightenment and reflected in their art and architecture

*Shintoism & Zen Philosophy influence Japanese Art

*Calligraphy is a central art form

• Common  Buddhism Iconography

• The Lion = Buddha's initial royalty
• The Wheel (chakra) = Buddha's law
• The Lotus = Buddha's pure nature
• Columns surrounds by a wheel = Buddha's teachings
• 

• Symbols for the Buddha=

• Empty throne, Umbrella,
• Footsteps, Wheel/Circle & Bodhi tree

•Ukiyo-e Prints-

a genre of woodblock prints and paintings that flourished in Japan from the 17th through 19th centuries. Aimed at the prosperous merchant class in the urbanizing Edo period (1603–1867), depictions of beautiful women, kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers as well as  scenes from history and folk tales, travel scenes and landscapes.

Heavily influenced European Ar- especailly Impressionism & Post Impression

JAPANESE PAINTING

is the preferred artistic expression in Japan, practiced by amateurs and professionals alike. Until modern times, the Japanese wrote with a brush rather than a pen, and their familiarity with brush techniques has made them particularly sensitive to the values and aesthetics of painting. With the rise of popular culture in the Edo period, a style of woodblock prints called ukiyo-e became a major art form and its techniques were fine tuned to produce colorful prints of everything from daily news to schoolbooks. The Japanese, in this period, found sculpture a much less sympathetic medium for artistic expression; most Japanese sculpture is associated with religion, and the medium's use declined with the lessening importance of traditional Buddhism.