Art of Japan

Key Ideas

• One of the best preserved continuous artistic traditions in the world!
• Zen Buddhism dominate Japan (rejects worldliness, centered on austerity
• Zen philosophy seen most readily in architecture
• Meditation is the key to enlightenment
• Ukiyo-e prints originally sold as a middle-class art form

History

• Incredibly, Japan is one of the few countries that has never been successfully invaded by an outside army. Doesn't mean that they haven't tried to take over or defeated outside of Japan.

Artwork List

Architecture and Sculpture
Todai-ji, 743, Nara, Japan including the Great        
      Buddha sculpture at this location
Great South Gate, 1181-1203
Ryoan-ji (rock garden, dry and wet), Kyoto

Painting, Printmaking
Night Attack on Sanjo Palace, c 1250-1300
White and Red Plum Blossoms by Ogata      
      Korin, 1710-1716
Under the Great Wave off Kanagawa by      
​      Hokusai, 1830-1833

Vocabulary

genre painting
Haboku (splashed ink)
Condo
mandorla
Tarashikomi
Ukiyo-e
Yamato-e
​Zen

Notecard Images