Japanese Art

Japanese art is some of the best in the world. Chinese and Korean influences are there but Japanese art remains unique and beautiful.

Everybody knows the famous print The Great Wave by Hokusai but there are other really good, lesser known artists too. One such artist is Tōshūsai Sharaku. Very little is know about the artist but his unusual large stylized heads are much admired in the west.

Van Gogh admired and learnt from Japanese art and dreamt of establishing a colony of artists in the south of France. He thought that Japanese artists worked and lived together rather like a family.

In the case of Japanese prints- or ukiyo-e as they are called in Japanese- young artists served an impossibly difficult apprenticeship. Originality was not admired or encouraged. The young artist had to copy the master's work. Often the artist was an orphan and took on the name of the master (which was also the name of the school).

A sympathetic and intelligent introduction to Japanese art can be found in a modest book written by the professor and author Langdon Warner. The book, which may no longer be in publication is The Enduring Art of Japan.

The writer travelled widely in Asia including along The Silk Road. The film character of indiana Jones was based on Warner himself.

Image found on the internet

These three paintings are my own work, made recently using Sumi ink or Japanese black ink. The ink usually comes in dried ink sticks which you have to rub on a rectangular shaped stone dish in order to produce the required tonal density. It is a very expressive medium and great subtlety can be achieved ranging from the darkest blacks to subtle, silvery grays.