Japan: Edo Period

 Japan: Edo Period

1615-1868 C.E.

 

The Tokugawa shogunate ruled for a period of 250 years with relative peace and prosperity during this time. Urban culture developed with artisans and merchants in the city of Edo (now Tokyo) and this era of art is referred to as Japan’s early modern era. The Edo period is divided into sub-periods, beginning with Kan’ei and Genroku eras, from the 1620s to the early 1700s. (Coman)

Kanō Tan’yū, Landscape in Moonlight, after 1662, one of three hanging scrolls, ink on silk, 100.6 x 42.5 cm. The signature mentions the painter’s Hōin title, “Seal of the Buddhist Law.” (The Metropolitan Museum of Art)

The Kanō school of painting flourished due to the three prominent painters: Kanō Tan’yū, Kanō Sanraku, and Kanō Sansetsu. The three painters took different directions, they were influenced by style of Eitoku, as well as a return to Chinese models and earlier style of the school. Tan’yū spearheaded this change, he painted landscapes in monochrome ink and polychrome paintings in the Japanese style. (Coman)

 

I enjoy this art piece a lot. The simple washed-out look has grown on me. This work reminds me of Monk by the Sea by Friedrich. This work is different tones of one color essentially. Tan or light brown and the mountains as charcoal. Theres soft lines horizontally and the work gives the impression of a foggy night with an unknow depth. The ships disappear into the fog as the mountains rise.

Iwasa Matabei, The Tale of Yamanaka Tokiwa, 17th century, handscroll, ink and color on paper, total length of over 70 meters, detail (Important Cultural Property, MOA Museum of Art, Atami, Shizuoka, Japan)

Matabei is regarded as a founding figure of ukiyo-e. His inspiration came from classic Japanese literature such as the Tale of Genji. His paintings are infused with everyday life and personal experience. (Coman)

 

This work is busy and chaotic. A tan background with red splattered across with smaller amounts of blue and green. There is so much movement and speed in this picture you can hear the pounding of their feet. It reminds me of French and American revolution paintings with all the chaos and war. However, this isn’t very detailed or life like, almost cartoonish.  

Katsushika Hokusai, Enoshima in Sagami Province (Sōshū Enoshima), from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei), c. 1830–32, polychrome woodblock print, ink and color on paper, 25.7 x 37.5 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)

 

Hokusai was born in 1760 in Edo. He created a Japanese variant of linear perspective. The art above is part of the thirty-six views of Mount Fuji. It is the highest mountain in Japan and has been considered sacred for a long time. Hokusai was fascinated by the mountain but also did the prints because of a boom in domestic travel to sell as souvenirs. (Harris)

 

This artwork is also simple and enjoyable to me. The soft blues and greens coupled with the light tan is easy on the eyes. You can see Mount Fuji in the background as the city goes about its day. There isn’t a lot of details, but the hard lines of the roof of each house and the hard line of the mountain makes them stand out.

 

 

Dr. Sonia Coman, "Edo period, an introduction," in Smarthistory, January 20, 2021, accessed August 8, 2024, https://smarthistory.org/edo-period/.

 Leila Anne Harris, "Katsushika Hokusai, Under the Wave off Kanagawa (The Great Wave)," in Smarthistory, August 9, 2015, accessed August 7, 2024, https://smarthistory.org/hokusai-under-the-wave-off-kanagawa-the-great-wave/.