1. Gardner’s Art Through the Ages,
12e
Chapter 8
Shrines, Statues, and Scrolls:
The Art of Early Japan
Chapter 27
From the Shoguns to the Present:
The Art of Later Japan
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2. Early Japan
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3. Key Ideas
• The Japanese have one of the best preserved continuous
artistic tradition in the world.
• Zen Buddhist thought dominates much Japanese artistic
production.
• The tea ceremony is a unique feature of Japanese culture.
• Ukiyo-e prints were originally sold as a middle-class art
form in Japan, but became a rage among the avant-garde
in Europe.
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4. Historical Background
• Little foreign interference in culture allowed Japan to
keep more traditional artistic practices (1854)
• Exported ukiyo-e prints to Europe, influencing art there
• Work on commission from court or religion
• Workshop/apprentice structure
• Painting is highly esteemed as hobby of aristocrats.
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5. Japanese Architecture
• Simplicity reflects Zen philosophy
• Single story, made of wood, blends w/ natural
environment
• Open interior w/ sliding screens for mobile rooms
• Raised floors
• Zen garden – raked sand, stones/plants, no water –
spiritual refreshment, contemplation
• Shintoism – sacredness of nature spirits
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6. Japanese Painting & Printmaking
• Genre painting – ukiyo-e (“pictures of the floating world”)
depict transient life pleasures & scenes
• Woodblock prints, scrolls, painted screens
• Popular w/ middle class (1658-1858)
• Publisher dictated subject & style, employed carver &
printer
• Black & white, then polychrome
• Flat areas of color, unmodulated tones, lack of shadows,
odd compositional angles, cropped forms
Japanese Sculpture
• Abstract (haniwa) to realistic (portraits)
• Masks for ceremonies, religious rituals, drama (Noh plays)
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7. Figure 8-1 Vessel, from Miyanomae,
Nagano Prefecture, Japan, Middle Jomon
period, 2500–1500 BCE. Earthenware, 1’
11 2/3 “ x 1’ 1 1/4”. Tokyo National
Museum, Tokyo.
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8. Figure 8-2 Dotaku (bell) with incised figural
motifs, from Kagawa Prefecture, Japan, Late
Yayoi period, 100–300. Bronze, 1’ 4 7/8” high.
Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo.
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9. Figure 8-3 Tomb of Emperor Nintoku. Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, Japan, Kofun period, Late fourth to early fifth century.
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10. Figure 8-4 Haniwa (cylindrical) warrior figure, from Gunma
Prefecture, Japan, late Kofun period, fifth to mid-sixth century.
Low-fired clay, 4’ 1 1/4” high. Aikawa Archaeological Museum,
Aikawa.
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11. Shinto Architecture
Figure 8-6 Horyuji kondo (Golden Hall), Nara, Japan, Early Nara (Hakuho) period, ca. 680. 11

12. Figure 8-7 TORI BUSSHI, Shaka triad, Horyuji
kondo, Nara, Japan, Asuka period, 623. Bronze, 5’
9 1/2” high.
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13. Architecture in Buddhist Japan
Figure 8-10 Daibutsuden, Todaiji, Japan, Nara period, eighth century, rebuilt, ca. 1700.
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14. Figure 8-12 Phoenix Hall, Byodoin, Uji, Japan, Heian period, 1053.
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15. Japanese Court Art
Figure 8-13 Scene from Minori chapter, Tale of Genji, late Heian period, first half of twelfth century. Handscroll, ink and color
on paper, 8 5/8” high. Goto Art Museum, Tokyo.
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16. Art of the
Kamakura Period
Figure 8-15 Detail of the priest Shunjobo Chogen,
Todaiji, Nara, Japan, Kamakura period, early thirteenth
century. Painted cypress wood, 2’ 8 3/8” high.
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17. Figure 8-16 Detail of The Burning of the Sanjo Palace, Kamakura period, thirteenth century. Handscroll, ink and colors on
paper, 1’ 4 1/4” high; complete scroll, 22’ 10” long. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Fenollosa-Weld Collection).
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18. Figure 27-1 Dry cascade and pools, upper garden, Saihoji temple, Kyoto, Japan, modified in Muromachi period, 14th
century.
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19. Muromachi Painting
Styles
Figure 27-2 TOYO SESSHU, broken-ink landscape, Japan,
Muromachi period, 1495. Hanging scroll, ink on paper, 4’ 10 1/4” x
1’ 7/8”. Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo.
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20. Figure 27-3 KANO MOTONOBU, Zen
Patriarch Xiangyen Zhixian Sweeping with a
Broom, Japan, Muromachi period, ca. 1513.
Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper, 5’ 7
3/8” x 2’ 10 3/4”. Tokyo National Museum,
Tokyo. 20

21. Momoyama Painting
Figure 27-4 KANO EITOKU, Chinese Lions, Japan, Momoyama period, late 16th century. Six-panel screen, color, ink,
and gold-leaf on paper, 7’ 4” x 14’ 10”. Imperial Household Agency, Tokyo.
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22. Figure 27-5 HASEGAWA TOHAKU, Pine Forest, Japan, Momoyama period, late sixteenth century. One
of a pair of six-panel screens, ink on paper, 5’ 1 3/8” x 11’ 4”. Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo.
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23. Rimpa Painting and Crafts
Figure 27-9 HONAMI KOETSU, Boat Bridge, writing box, Japan, Edo period, early seventeenth century. Lacquered
wood with sprinkled gold and inlay, 9 1/2” x 4 5/8”. Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo. 23

24. The art of Ukiyo-e
Prints
Figure 27-11 SUZUKI HARUNOBU,
Evening Bell at the Clock, from Eight Views of
the Parlor series, Japan, Edo period, ca. 1765.
Woodblock print, 11 1/4” x 8 1/2”. Art
Institute of Chicago, Chicago (Clarence
Buckingham Collection). 24

25. Figure 27-12 KATSUSHIKA HOKUSAI, The Great Wave off Kanagawa, from Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji series,
Japan, Edo period, ca. 1826–1833. Woodblock print oban, ink and colors on paper, 9 7/8” x 1’ 2 3/4”. Museum of Fine
Arts, Boston (Spaulding Collection). 25

26. Figure 27-15 TANGE KENZO, national indoor Olympic stadiums, Tokyo, Japan, Showa period, 1961–1964.
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27. Figure 27-17 TSUCHIYA KIMIO,
Symptom, 1987. Branches, 13' 1 1/2" x
14' 9 1/8" x 3' 11 1/4". Installation view,
Jeune Sculpture '87, Paris 1987.
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