From the Shoguns to the Present: The Art of Later Japan
    
       
  An Age Of Upheaval And War :: Modern Japan  
       
       
  MODERN JAPAN

The Meiji and Taisho Periods (1868-1926)

The end of Shogun rule:

The Tokugawa shogunate toppled, in part, because of its inability to handle increasing pressure from Western nations for a more open Japan. Sovereignty was restored to the imperial throne, but real power rested with the emperor's cabinet. Japanese leaders emphasized catching up with the West in military capacity, science, and technology. They also promoted Western cultural elements as signs of Japan's status as a "civilized" nation, similar to the emulation of China in the Nara period. The government imported Western architects and artists, who also taught Japanese students.

Western Oil painting:

Oil painting became a major genre in the late nineteenth century. Oiran by TAKAHASHI YUICHI (1828-1894), created for a client nostalgic for vanishing elements of Japanese culture, highlights the cultural foment of the early Meiji period. Takahashi portrayed the courtesan's features in the analytical manner of Western portraits, while the more abstract garments reflect traditional portraiture.

27-13: TAKAHASHI YUICHI, Oiran ("Grand courtesan"), Japan, Meiji period, 1872. Oil on canvas, 2' 6 1/2" x 1' 9 5/8". Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, Tokyo.
  1. Courtesan
  2. Courtesan
  3. Courtesan
Resisting Westernization:

Enthusiasm for Westernization led to resistance and concern over a loss of distinctive Japanese identity. The American professor Ernest Fenollosa (1853-1908), a former student named Okakura Kakuzo (1862-1913), and others founded a university dedicated to Japanese arts. They encouraged incorporating some Western techniques in basically Japanese-style paintings. The resulting style was called nihonga (Japanese painting), as opposed to yoga (Western painting).

Kutsugen, by YOKOYAMA TAIKAN (1868-1958), provides a good example of nihonga. It combines a low horizon line and subtle shading effects taken from Western painting with East Asian elements in its composition, brushwork techniques, and use of traditional media. The subject, a Chinese poet who falls out of the emperor's favor, may have resonated with Taikan and his associates. The poet suggests the spirit of the early nihonga painters, who resisted powerful forces of change.

27-14: YOKOYAMA TAIKAN, Kutsugen, Itsukushima Shrine, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, Meiji period, 1898. Hanging scroll, color on silk, 4' 4" x 9' 6".
  1. Other examples
  2. Kutsugen
  3. Kutsugen
  4. Kutsugen
The Showa and Heisei Periods (1926-Present)

Developments during the twentieth century brought Japan increasing prominence on the world stage. During the occupation period after World War II, the United States imposed new democratic institutions on Japan, with the emperor serving as a ceremonial head of state. Japan also has taken a positive and productive place in the international art world. As in its earlier relationship to the art and culture of China and Korea, it has internalized Western lessons and transformed them into a part of its own vital culture.

A home for the Olympics:

Japanese architects have made major contributions to both modern and postmodern developments. One of the most daringly experimental is TANGE KENZO (b. 1913). For the 1964 Olympic stadiums, he employed a cable suspension system to shape steel and concrete into remarkably graceful structures. His attention to both the sculptural qualities of raw concrete form and the fluidity of space carries on the legacy of the late style of Le Corbusier.

27-15: TANGE KENZO, national indoor Olympic stadiums, Tokyo, Japan, Showa period, 1963-1964.
  1. National Olympic Stadium
  2. National Olympic Stadium
  3. Other buildings by Kenzo Tange
  4. National Olympic Stadium
Modern folk poetry:

The other Japanese art form of the twentieth century attracting worldwide attention is ceramics, but not for its international flavor. Like other international folk art, traditional Japanese ceramics and other so-called crafts are highly valued today. A formative figure in Japan's folk art movement, the philosopher Yanagi Soetsu (1889-1961), promoted an ideal of beauty that only could be achieved in functional objects made of natural materials by anonymous craftspeople. The potter HAMADA SHOJI (1894-1978) espoused those selfless ideals but, nevertheless, gained international fame and received official recognition in Japan as a "Living National Treasure." Works such as his dish with casual slip designs are unsigned but easily recognized by connoisseurs. This dish holds great attraction in its simple, earthy beauty.

27-16: HAMADA SHOJI, large bowl, 1962. Black trails on translucent glaze, 5 7/8" x 1' 10 1/2". National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto.
  1. Large Bow
  2. Another example
  3. Another example
Natural Sculpture:

Although no medium or subject dominates contemporary Japanese art, much of it does spring from ideas or beliefs that have been integral to Japanese culture over the years.

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.
  1. Symptom
  2. Other Kimio Installation
  3. Other Kimio Installation
  4. Other Kimio Installation
    
 
 
       
       
  An Age Of Upheaval And War :: Modern Japan