Part 4 (1/2)
CHAPTER FOUR. LAWS GOVERNING THE CONCEPTION AND EXECUTION OF A PAINTING
When a j.a.panese artist is preparing to paint a picture he considers first the s.p.a.ce the picture is to occupy and its shape, whether square, oblong, round or otherwise; next, the distribution of light and shade, and then the placing of the objects in the composition so as to secure harmony and effective contrasts. In settling these questions he relies largely on the laws of proportion and design.
The principles of proportion (ICHI) and design (ISHO) are closely allied.
They aim to supply and express with sobriety what is essential to the composition, proportion determining the just arrangement and distribution of the component parts, and design the manner in which the same shall be handled. In a landscape, proportion may require the balancing effect of buildings and trees, while design will determine how the same may be picturesquely presented; for instance, by making the trees partially hide the buildings, thus provoking a desire to see more than is shown. Such suggestion or stimulation of the imagination is called YUKAs.h.i.+. The j.a.panese painter is early taught the value of suppression in design-_l'art d'ennuyer est de tout dire_.
A well-known rule of proportion, quaintly expressed in the original Chinese and which is more or less adhered to in practice, requires in a landscape painting that if the mountain be, for example, ten feet high the trees should be one foot, a horse one inch and a man the size of a bean.
JO SAN SEKI JU, SUN BA TO JIN _(Plate XVII)_.
Design, called in art ISHO ZUAN or _tak.u.mi,_ is largely the personal equation of the artist. It is his power of presenting and expressing what he treats in an original manner. The subject may not be new, but its treatment must be fresh and attractive. Much will depend upon the learning and the technical ability of the artist. In the matter of design the artists of Tokyo have always differed from those of Kyoto, the former aiming at lively and even startling effects, while the latter seek to produce a quieter or more subdued _(otonas.h.i.+)_ result.
Where landscapes or trees are to be painted upon a single panel, panels on each side of it may be conveniently placed and the painting designed upon the central panel in connection with the two additional ones used for elaboration. In this way, when the side panels are withdrawn the effect is as though such landscape or trees were seen through an open window, and all cramped or forced appearance is avoided. The _Ukiyo e_ artists practiced a similar method in their _has.h.i.+rakake_ or long, narrow, panel-like prints of men and women used for decorating upright beams in a room.
The literature of art abounds in instances ill.u.s.trative of correct proportion and design.
The artist Buncho being requested to paint a crow flying across a _fusuma_ or four sliding door-like panels, after much reflection painted the bird in the act of disappearing from the last of these subdivisions, the s.p.a.ce of the other three suggesting the rapid flight which the crow had already accomplished, and the law of proportion (ICHI) or orderly arrangement thus observed was universally applauded.
In the wooded graveyard of the temple at Ike-gami, where the tombs of so many of the Kano artists (including Tanyu) are to be found, is a stone marking the grave of a Kano painter who, having executed an order for a picture and his patron observing that it was lacking in design and that he must add a certain gold effect in the color scheme, rather than violate his own convictions of what he considered proper design, first refused to comply and then committed _hara kiri._
A canon of j.a.panese art which is at the base of one of the peculiar charms of j.a.panese pictures, not merely in the whole composition but also in minute details that might escape the attention at first glance, requires that there should be in every painting the sentiment of active and pa.s.sive, light and shade. This is called IN YO and is based upon the principle of contrast for heightening effects. The term IN YO originated in the earliest doctrines of Chinese philosophy and has always existed in the art language of the Orient. It signifies darkness (IN) and light (YO), negative and positive, female and male, pa.s.sive and active, lower and upper, even and odd. This term is of constant application in painting. A picture with its lights and shades properly distributed conforms to the law of IN YO. Two flying crows, one with its beak closed, the other with its beak open; two tigers in their lair, one with the mouth shut, the other with the teeth showing; or two dragons, one ascending to the sky and the other descending to the ocean, ill.u.s.trate phases of IN YO.
Mountains, waves, the petals of a flower, the eyeball of a bird, rocks, trees-all have their negative and positive aspects, their IN and their YO.
The observance of this canon secures not only the effective contrast of light and shade in a picture but also an equally striking contrast between the component parts of each object composing it.
The law of form, in art called KEISHO or KAKKO, is widely applied for determining not only the correct shape of things but also their suitable or proper presentation according to circ.u.mstances. It has to do with all kinds of att.i.tudes and dress. It determines what is suitable for the prince and for the beggar, for the courtier and for the peasant. It regulates the shape that objects should take according to conditions surrounding them, whether seen near or far off, in mist or in rain or snow, in motion or in repose. The exact shape of objects in motion (as an animal running, a bird flying or a fish swimming) no one can see, but the painter who has observed, studied and knows by heart the form or shape of these objects in repose can, by virtue of his skill, reproduce them in motion, foreshortened or otherwise; that is KEISHO; and he is taught and well understands that if in executing such work his memory of essential details fails him hesitancy is apt to cause the picture to perish as a work of art.
KEISHO literally means shape, but in oriental art it signifies also the proprieties; it is a law which enforces among other things canons of good taste and suppresses all exaggerations, inartistic peculiarities and _grimaces._
The law touching historical subjects and the manner of painting them is called KO JUTSU. Special principles apply to this department of j.a.panese art. The historical painter must know all the historical details of the period to which his painting relates, including a knowledge of the arms, accoutrements, costumes, ornaments, customs and the like. This subject covers too vast a field and is too important to be summarily treated here.
Suffice it to say that there have been many celebrated historical painters in j.a.pan. I recall, on the other hand, a picture once exhibited by a distinguished Tokyo artist which was superbly executed but wholly ignored by the jury because it violated some canon applicable to historical painting.
The term YU SHOKU refers to the laws governing the practices of the Imperial household, Buddhist and s.h.i.+nto rites. Before attempting any work of art in which these may figure the painter must be thoroughly versed in the appointments of palace interiors, the rules of etiquette, the occupations and pastimes of the Emperor, court n.o.bles _(Kuge),_ _daimyo_ and their military attendants _(samurai),_ the costumes of the females _(tsubone)_ of the Imperial household and their duties and accomplishments. The Tosa school made a thorough familiarity with such details its specialty. All Buddhist paintings come under the law of YU SHOKU.
Let us next consider briefly some of the principles applicable to j.a.panese landscape painting. Landscapes are known in art by the term SAN SUI, which means mountain and water. This Chinese term would indicate that the artists of China considered both mountains and water to be essential to landscape subjects, and the tendency in a j.a.panese artist to introduce both into his painting is ever noticeable. If he cannot find the water elsewhere he takes it from the heavens in the shape of rain. Indeed, rain and wind subjects are much in favor and wonderful effects are produced in their pictures suggesting the coming slorm, where the wind makes the bamboos and trees take on new, weird and fantastic shapes.
The landscape _(Plate XVIII)_ contains a lofty mountain, rocks, river, road, trees, bridge, man, animal, et cetera. The first requisite in such, a composition is that the picture respond to the law of TEN CHI JIN, or heaven, earth and man. This wonderful law of Buddhism is said to pervade the universe and is of widest application to all the art of man. TEN CHI JIN means that whatever is worthy of contemplation must contain a princ.i.p.al subject, its complimentary adjunct, and auxiliary details. Thus is the work rounded out to its perfection.
[Tiger, by Kis.h.i.+ Chikudo. Plate VI.]
Tiger, by Kis.h.i.+ Chikudo. Plate VI.
This law of TEN CHI JIN applies not only to painting but to poetry (its elder sister), to architecture, to garden plans, as well as to flower arrangement; in fact, it is a universal, fundamental law of correct construction. In _Plate XVIII_ the mountain is the dominant or princ.i.p.al feature. It commands our first attention. Everything is subservient to it. It, therefore, is called TEN, or heaven. Next in importance, complimentary to the mountain, are the rocks. These, therefore, are CHI, or earth; while all that contributes to the movement or life of the picture, to wit, the trees, man, animal, bridge and river, are styled JIN, or man, so that the picture satisfies the first law of composition, namely, the unity in variety required by TEN CHI JIN.
There is another law which determines the general character to be given a landscape according to the season, and is thus expressed: Mountains in spring should suggest joyousness; in summer, green and moisture; in autumn, abundance; in winter, drowsiness. The formula runs as follows: SHUN-ZAN, _warau gotos.h.i.+;_ KAZAN, _arau gotos.h.i.+;_ SHUZAN, _yoso gotos.h.i.+;_ TOZAN, _nemurugotoku._
Similarly, according to the season, there are four princ.i.p.al ways of painting bamboo (CHIKU). In fair-weather bamboo (SEI CHIKU) the leaves are spread out joyously; in rainy-weather bamboo (UCHIKU) the leaves hang down despondently; in windy-weather bamboo (FUCHIKU) the leaves cross each other confusedly, and in the dew of early morning (ROCHIKU) the bamboo leaves all point upwards vigorously _(Plate LIII a 1 to a 4)_.
The Kano artists differ from the s.h.i.+jo painters in their manner of combining _(kasaneru)_ the leaves and branches of the bamboo. Speaking generally, the s.h.i.+jo artists point the leaves downward, while the former point them upward, which is more effective.