DOI issue:
No. 200 (November, 200)
DOI article:Taki, Seiichi: The application of nature subjects to designing in japanese art
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.20968#0151
Nature Subjects in Japanese Design
flowing stream, here the impression of autumn, by
wind. These two pictures may be taken as
typical examples of Japanese art on nature sub-
jects. Above all, being exempt from the formalism
of the Chinese school, these paintings beautifully
express the spirit with which the Japanese love
nature. Hoitsu Sakai, the author of these masterly
creations, flourished at the beginning of the last
century, and was best known for his paintings of
birds and flowers. His artistic triumph was not
the result of mere technical training. Born of a
princely family, the artist in his earlier years
devoted himself to the study of literature and
military science. But being averse to the routine
duties of a statesman, he afterwards retired from
actual life in order to follow his more congenial
pursuit of literature and art. While in the realm
of letters he won the fame of an expert master of
Haiku poetry, he figured quite as prominently in
the field of art. It is therefore not surprising that
his pictorial works should be imbued with a tone
noble and profound, such as cannot be found
in the productions of ordinary painters. And
this explains the exalted attributes of his two
masterpieces already reviewed. In olden times it
was very common in Japan as in China for artists
to aspire to literary culture. But such cannot be
said of all our modern artists, since the most
successful of them are not necessarily possessed of
literary accomplishments. Even in bygone days
there were few artists who could hold their own
against Hoitsu in this direction. However,
present-day artists are not to be blamed for their
defect in scholarship, for the modern progress of
society has made literature and art two distinct
professions. In modern times the Ukiyo-ye school
in particular has in its ranks followers who have
ability only in the manipulation of the brush. In
spite of all this, the artistic society of Japan seems
to have a strong conviction that artists should have
not only a taste for, but also a knowledge of,
letters.
Leaving this digression, let us return to the
subject we were discussing, namely, how the
Japanese artist in treating nature conceives designs
always with the representation of scenery in view
in order to make his work suggestive. To verify
this fact many pictorial examples, besides those
LACQUERED KARABITSU CHEST PRESERVED IN THE
KONGOBU-JI TEMPLE ON MOUNT KOYA, JAPAN
129
flowing stream, here the impression of autumn, by
wind. These two pictures may be taken as
typical examples of Japanese art on nature sub-
jects. Above all, being exempt from the formalism
of the Chinese school, these paintings beautifully
express the spirit with which the Japanese love
nature. Hoitsu Sakai, the author of these masterly
creations, flourished at the beginning of the last
century, and was best known for his paintings of
birds and flowers. His artistic triumph was not
the result of mere technical training. Born of a
princely family, the artist in his earlier years
devoted himself to the study of literature and
military science. But being averse to the routine
duties of a statesman, he afterwards retired from
actual life in order to follow his more congenial
pursuit of literature and art. While in the realm
of letters he won the fame of an expert master of
Haiku poetry, he figured quite as prominently in
the field of art. It is therefore not surprising that
his pictorial works should be imbued with a tone
noble and profound, such as cannot be found
in the productions of ordinary painters. And
this explains the exalted attributes of his two
masterpieces already reviewed. In olden times it
was very common in Japan as in China for artists
to aspire to literary culture. But such cannot be
said of all our modern artists, since the most
successful of them are not necessarily possessed of
literary accomplishments. Even in bygone days
there were few artists who could hold their own
against Hoitsu in this direction. However,
present-day artists are not to be blamed for their
defect in scholarship, for the modern progress of
society has made literature and art two distinct
professions. In modern times the Ukiyo-ye school
in particular has in its ranks followers who have
ability only in the manipulation of the brush. In
spite of all this, the artistic society of Japan seems
to have a strong conviction that artists should have
not only a taste for, but also a knowledge of,
letters.
Leaving this digression, let us return to the
subject we were discussing, namely, how the
Japanese artist in treating nature conceives designs
always with the representation of scenery in view
in order to make his work suggestive. To verify
this fact many pictorial examples, besides those
LACQUERED KARABITSU CHEST PRESERVED IN THE
KONGOBU-JI TEMPLE ON MOUNT KOYA, JAPAN
129