Part 2 (2/2)
The Painter's Convenient Reference (GOKO BEN RAN), by Arai Haku Seki.
A Collection of Celebrated j.a.panese Paintings (KO CHO MEIGA SHU E), by Hiyama Gi s.h.i.+n.
Ideas on Design in Painting (TO GA KO), by Saito Heko Maro.
A Discourse on j.a.panese Painting (HONCHO GWA SAN), by Tani Buncho.
Important Reflections on All Kinds of Painting (GWA JO YO RYAKU), by Arai Kayo.
A Treatise on Famous j.a.panese Paintings (FU SO MEI GWA DEN), by Hori Nao Kaku.
Observations on Ancient Pictures (KO GWA BI KO), by Asa Oka Kotei.
A Treatise on Famous Painters (FU SO GWA JIN), by Ko s.h.i.+tsu Ryo Chu.
A Treatise on j.a.panese Painting (YAMATO NIs.h.i.+KI KEM BUN SHO), by Kuro Kama Shun Son.
A Treatise on the Laws of Painting (GWAFU), by Ran Sai, a pupil of Chinanpin. The work is voluminous and is both of great use and authority.
CHO CHU GWA FU, by Chiku To.
SHA ZAN GAKUGWA HEN, by Buncho.
Translations of all these works into English are greatly to be desired.
There is much that has been sympathetically written and published about j.a.panese paintings both in Europe and America, but however laudatory, it might be all summed up under the t.i.tle, ”Impressions of an Outsider.”
Such writings lack the authority which only constant labor in the field of practical art can confer. A j.a.panese artist, by which I mean a painter, is long in making. From ten to fifteen years of continuous study and application are required before much skill is attained. During that time he gradually absorbs a knowledge of the many principles, precepts, maxims and methods, which together const.i.tute the corpus or body of art doctrine handed down from a remote antiquity and preserved either in books or perpetuated by tradition. Along with these are innumerable art secrets called _hiji_ or _himitsu,_ never published, but orally imparted by the masters to their pupils-not secrets in a trick sense, but methods of execution discovered after laborious effort and treasured as valued possessions. It is obvious, then, how incapable of writing technically upon the subject must anyone be who has not gone through such curriculum and had drilled into him all that varied instruction which makes up the body of rules applicable to that art.
I have read many seriously written appreciations of j.a.panese paintings published in various modern languages, and even some amiable imaginings penned for foreigners by j.a.panese who fancy they know by instinct what only can be acquired after long study and practice with brush in hand.
All such writers are characterized in j.a.pan by a very polite term, _s.h.i.+roto_-which means amateur. It also has a secondary signification of emptiness.
[Chapter 3 Head-Band: The design called ”Dew on the Gra.s.s and b.u.t.terflies”
(tsuyu, kusa ni cho).]
CHAPTER THREE. LAWS FOR THE USE OF BRUSH AND MATERIALS
Upon a subject as technical as that of j.a.panese painting, to endeavor to impart correct information in a way that shall be both instructive and entertaining is an undertaking of no little difficulty. The rules and canons of any art when enumerated, cla.s.sified and explained, are likely to prove trying, if not wearisome reading. Yet, if our object be to acquire accurate knowledge, we must consent to make some sacrifice to attain it, and there is no royal road to a knowledge of j.a.panese painting.
We have little or no opportunity in America, excepting in one or two cities, to see good specimens of the work of the great painters of j.a.pan.
Furthermore, such work in _kakemono_ form is seen to much disadvantage when exhibited in numbers strung along the walls of a museum. j.a.panese _kakemono_ (hanging paintings) are best viewed singly, suspended in the recess of the _tokonoma,_ or alcove. A certain seclusion is essential to the enjoyment of their delicate and subtle effects; the surroundings should be suggestive of leisure and repose, which the j.a.panese word _s.h.i.+dzuka,_ often employed in art language, well describes.
The j.a.panese technique, by which I understand the established manner in which their effects in painting are produced, differs widely from that of European art. The j.a.panese brushes _(Jude_ and _hake),_ colors and materials influence largely the method of painting. The canons or standards by which j.a.panese art is to be judged are quite special to j.a.pan and are scarcely understood outside of it. Since the subject is technical, to treat it in a popular way is to risk the omission of much that is essential. I will endeavor, at any rate, to give an outline of its fundamental principles, first saying a word or two about the tools and materials.
In j.a.panese painting no oils are used. _Sumi_ (a black color in cake form) and water-colors only are employed, while Chinese and j.a.panese paper and specially prepared silk take the place of canvas or other material.
j.a.panese artists do not paint on easels; while at work they sit on their heels and knees, with the paper or silk spread before them on a soft material, called _mosen,_ which lies upon the matting or floor covering.
After one becomes accustomed to this position, he finds it gives, among other things, a very free use of the right arm and wrist.
Silk _(e ginu)_ is prepared for painting by first attaching it with boiled rice mucilage to a stretching frame. A sizing of alum and light glue (called _dosa)_ is next applied, care being taken not to wet the edges of the silk attached to the frame, which would loosen the silk.
It has been found that paper lasts much longer than silk, and also can be more easily restored when cracked with age.
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