''Nihonga'' (, " Japanese-style paintings") are

Japanese painting is one of the oldest and most highly refined of the Japanese visual arts, encompassing a wide variety of genres and styles. As with the history of Japanese arts in general, the long history of Japanese painting exhibits synthesis and competitio ...

s from about 1900 onwards that have been made in accordance with traditional Japanese artistic conventions, techniques and materials. While based on traditions over a thousand years old, the term was coined in the

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

Imperial Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent forma ...

, to distinguish such works from Western-style paintings or ''

Yōga is a style of artistic painting in Japan, typically of Japanese subjects, themes, or landscapes, but using Western (European) artistic conventions, techniques, and materials. The term was coined in the Meiji period (1868–1912) to distingu ...

'' ().

History

The impetus for reinvigorating traditional painting by developing a more modern Japanese style came largely from many artist/educators, which included

Shiokawa Bunrin Shiokawa ( ja, (塩川) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the name include: *, a Japanese politician *, a Japanese violinist *, a Japanese volleyball player *, a Japanese politician *, a Japanese footballer *, a Japanese baseball player ...

, Kōno Bairei,

Tomioka Tessai was the pseudonym for a painter and calligrapher in imperial Japan. He is regarded as the last major artist in the '' Bunjinga'' tradition and one of the first major artists of the '' Nihonga'' style. His real name was Yusuke, which he later c ...

and art critics Okakura Tenshin and

Ernest Fenollosa Ernest Francisco Fenollosa (February 18, 1853 – September 21, 1908) was an American art historian of Japanese art, professor of philosophy and political economy at Tokyo Imperial University. An important educator during the modernization of Japa ...

, who attempted to combat Meiji Japan's infatuation with Western culture by emphasizing to the Japanese the importance and beauty of native Japanese traditional arts. These two men played important roles in developing the curricula at major art schools, and actively encouraged and patronized artists. ''Nihonga'' was not simply a continuation of older painting traditions. In comparison with ''

Yamato-e is a style of Japanese painting inspired by Tang dynasty paintings and fully developed by the late Heian period. It is considered the classical Japanese style. From the Muromachi period (15th century), the term Yamato-e has been used to distingui ...

'' the range of subjects was broadened. Moreover, stylistic and technical elements from several traditional schools, such as the '' Kanō-ha'', '' Rinpa'' and '' Maruyama Ōkyo'' were blended together. The distinctions that had existed among schools in the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characte ...

were minimized. However, in many cases ''Nihonga'' artists also adopted realistic Western painting techniques, such as perspective and shading. Because of this tendency to synthesize, although ''Nihonga'' form a distinct category within the Japanese annual Nitten exhibitions, in recent years, it has become increasingly difficult to draw a distinct separation in either techniques or materials between ''Nihonga'' and ''Yōga''. The artist Tenmyouya Hisashi has (b. 1966) developed a new art concept in 2001 called "Neo-Nihonga".

Development outside Japan

''Nihonga'' has a following around the world; notable ''Nihonga'' artists who are not based in Japan are

Hiroshi Senju is a Japanese ''Nihonga'' painter known for his large scale waterfall paintings. Biography Hiroshi Senju was born in Tokyo. He has one brother, composer Akira Senju, and one sister, violinist Mariko Senjyu. He completed the BFA, Tokyo Univers ...

, American artists such as

Makoto Fujimura Makoto Fujimura is an American artist. He is considered to be one of the leading figures of "slow art" movement. He has coined the terms "Culture Care" and "Theology of Making". He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Bucknell University, ...

, and Canadian

Miyuki Tanobe Miyuki Tanobe (born 1937 in Morioka, Japan) is a Japanese-born Canadian painter, based in Montreal, Quebec. She is known for her paintings of the everyday life of Montreal residents. Her work is in the collections of the Montreal Museum of Fine ...

. Contemporary Nihonga has been the mainstay of New York's Dillon Gallery. Key artists from the "golden age of post war Nihonga" from 1985 to 1993 based at Tokyo University of the Arts have produced global artists whose training in Nihonga has served as a foundation.

Takashi Murakami is a Japanese contemporary artist. He works in fine arts media (such as painting and sculpture) as well as commercial (such as fashion, merchandise, and animation) and is known for blurring the line between high and low arts as well as co ae ...

, Norihiko Saito, Chen Wenguang, Keizaburo Okamura and

are the leading artists exhibiting globally, all coming out of the distinguished Doctorate level curriculum at

Tokyo University of the Arts or is the most prestigious art school in Japan. Located in Ueno Park, it also has facilities in Toride, Ibaraki, Yokohama, Kanagawa, and Kitasenju and Adachi, Tokyo. The university has trained renowned artists in the fields of painting, scul ...

. Most of these artists are represented by Dillon Gallery.

Materials

''Nihonga'' are typically executed on ''

washi is traditional Japanese paper. The term is used to describe paper that uses local fiber, processed by hand and made in the traditional manner. ''Washi'' is made using fibers from the inner bark of the gampi tree, the mitsumata shrub (''E ...

'' (Japanese paper) or ''eginu'' (

silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the ...

), using brushes. The paintings can be either monochrome or polychrome. If monochrome, typically '' sumi'' (Chinese ink) made from

soot Soot ( ) is a mass of impure carbon particles resulting from the incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons. It is more properly restricted to the product of the gas-phase combustion process but is commonly extended to include the residual pyrolysed ...

mixed with a glue from fishbone or animal hide is used. If polychrome, the

pigment A pigment is a colored material that is completely or nearly insoluble in water. In contrast, dyes are typically soluble, at least at some stage in their use. Generally dyes are often organic compounds whereas pigments are often inorganic compou ...

s are derived from natural ingredients:

mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2 ...

s, shells,

coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and ...

s, and even

semi-precious stone A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semiprecious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, a ...

s like

malachite Malachite is a copper carbonate hydroxide mineral, with the formula Cu2CO3(OH)2. This opaque, green-banded mineral crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system, and most often forms botryoidal, fibrous, or stalagmitic masses, in fracture ...

, azurite and

cinnabar Cinnabar (), or cinnabarite (), from the grc, κιννάβαρι (), is the bright scarlet to brick-red form of mercury(II) sulfide (HgS). It is the most common source ore for refining elemental mercury and is the historic source for the bri ...

. The raw materials are powdered into 16 gradations from fine to sandy grain textures. A hide glue solution, called ''nikawa'', is used as a binder for these powdered pigments. In both cases, water is used; hence ''nihonga'' is actually a water-based medium. ''Gofun'' (powdered calcium carbonate that is made from cured

oyster Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not ...

clam Clam is a common name for several kinds of bivalve molluscs. The word is often applied only to those that are edible and live as infauna, spending most of their lives halfway buried in the sand of the seafloor or riverbeds. Clams have two shel ...

or scallop shells) is an important material used in ''nihonga''. Different kinds of ''gofun'' are utilized as a ground, for under-painting, and as a fine white top color. Initially, ''nihonga'' were produced for hanging scrolls (''

kakemono __NOTOC__ A , more commonly referred to as a , is a Japanese hanging scroll used to display and exhibit paintings and calligraphy inscriptions and designs mounted usually with silk fabric edges on a flexible backing, so that it can be rolled fo ...

''), hand scrolls (''

emakimono or is an illustrated horizontal narration system of painted handscrolls that dates back to Nara-period (710–794 CE) Japan. Initially copying their much older Chinese counterparts in style, during the succeeding Heian (794–1185) and Ka ...

''), sliding doors ('' fusuma'') or folding screens (''

byōbu are Japanese folding screens made from several joined panels, bearing decorative painting and calligraphy, used to separate interiors and enclose private spaces, among other uses. History are thought to have originated in Han dynasty C ...

''). However, most are now produced on paper stretched onto wood panels, suitable for framing. Nihonga paintings do not need to be put under glass. They are archival for thousands of years.

Techniques

In monochrome ''Nihonga'', the technique depends on the modulation of ink tones from darker through lighter to obtain a variety of shadings from near white, through grey tones to black and occasionally into greenish tones to represent trees, water, mountains or foliage. In polychrome ''Nihonga'', great emphasis is placed on the presence or absence of outlines; typically outlines are not used for depictions of birds or plants. Occasionally, washes and layering of pigments are used to provide contrasting effects, and even more occasionally,

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

leaf may also be incorporated into the painting.

Gallery

File:Hishida Shunsō 001.jpg, ''Rakuyō'' (落葉, Fallen Leaves) by Hishida Shunsō, Important Cultural Property (1909) File:Kobayashi Fruit.jpg, ''Fruit'' by Kokei Kobayashi (1910) File:Enbu by Hayami Gyoshu.jpg, ''Enbu'' (炎舞, Dance of Flames) by Gyoshū Hayami, Important Cultural Property (1925) File:Madaraneko by Takeuchi Seiho.jpg, ''Madaraneko'' (斑猫, Tabby Cat) by

Takeuchi Seihō (December 20, 1864 – August 23, 1942) was a Japanese painter of the ''Nihonga'' genre, active from the Meiji through the early Shōwa period. One of the founders of ''nihonga'', his works spanned half a century and he was regarded as master o ...

, Important Cultural Property (1924) File:Jo-no-mai by Uemura Shoen.jpg, ''Jo no Mai'' (序の舞, Noh Dance Prelude) by

Uemura Shōen was the pseudonym of an artist in Meiji, Taishō and early Shōwa period Japanese painting. Her real name was Uemura Tsune. Shōen was known primarily for her ''bijin-ga,'' or paintings of beautiful women, in the ''nihonga'' style, although sh ...

(1936)

References

* Briessen, Fritz van. ''The Way of the Brush: Painting Techniques of China and Japan''. Tuttle (1999). * Conant, Ellen P., Rimer, J. Thomas, Owyoung, Stephen. ''Nihonga: Transcending the Past: Japanese-Style Painting, 1868–1968''. Weatherhill (1996). * Setsuko Kagitani: ''Kagitani Setsuko Hanagashū'', Tohōshuppan, Tokyo, * Weston, Victoria. ''Japanese Painting and National Identity: Okakura Tenshin and His Circle''. Center for Japanese Studies University of Michigan (2003).

External links

* {{authoritycontrol Empire of Japan Japanese painting Schools of Japanese art History of art in Japan