Part 2 (1/2)

There are still other schools (RYUGI) whichthat of the NANGWA, or Chinese southern painters, of Chinese origin and reracefulness of the brush stroke, the effective treatht and shade throughout the coado, Chikuden, Baietsu _(Plate VIII)_ and Katei To this school is referred a style of painting affected exclusively by the professional writers of Chinese characters, and called BUNJINGWA To these I will allude further on The versatile artist, Tani Buncho, created a school which had uished Watanabe Kwazan and Eiko of Tokyo, lately deceased, one of its best exponents

The art of painting is enthusiastically pursued at the present tioya and Osaka In Tokyo, Hashi+ Moto Gaho was generally conceded to be, up to the time of his death in 1908, the forereatly adure in sos recalls thewith Gaho was at his ho for him, I observed suspended in the _tokonoma,_ or alcove, a narrow little _kake an old e A sle flower spray was the sole ornaave the keynote to Gaho's character-classic simplicity, ever reflected in his work He had many followers His ive the,” ”Solitude,” ”An Autu,”

or the like, and he was most insistent upon all the essentials to the proper effect being introduced His criticisms were always luminous and syood, but to imitate no-one,-to develop individuality He left three very distinguished and able pupils-Gyokudo, Kan Zan and Boku Sen

[Chickens in Spring, by Mori Tessan Plate III]

Chickens in Spring, by Mori Tessan Plate III

Since Gaho's death, Kawabata Gyokusho, an Okyo artist, is the recognized leader of the capital In Kyoto, Takeuchi Seiho, an early pupil of Bairei, now occupies the foreh Shonen and Keinen, pupils of Hyakunen, still hold a high rank

Recurring to the ti under Matahei and perpetuated throughUta down to the present date This is the _Ukiyo e_ or floating-world-picture school It is far better known through its prints than its paintings The great painters of japan have never held this school in any favor At one tiuished artist's studio in japan, and I know personallyartists of that country I have never seen a japanese print in the possession of any of them, and I know their sentiments about all such work A print is a lifeless production, and it would be quite impossible for a japanese artist to take prints into any serious consideration They rank no higher than cut velvet scenery or ereat favor with hly value them; but they do not exemplify art as the japanese understand that term It must be admitted, however, that the prints have been of service in several ways They first attracted the world's attention to the subject of japanese art in general

Co with an exhibition of theenre subjects came rapidly into favor and ever since have commanded the notice and admiration of collectors in Europe and America Many people are even under the i, which, of course, is a great mistake There have been artists in japan who, in the _Ukiyo e_ manner, have painted _kakemono_, BYOBU and _ on silk or paper, wound upon a wooden roller and unrolled and hung up to be seen _Kakeru_ means to suspend and _mono_ means an object, hence _kakenifies wind protector or screen; _ in scroll form

It is not suspended, but siinal work by Matahei and others is extant But most of the _Ukiyo e_, or pictures in the popular style, are prints struck from wood blocks and are the joint production of the artist, the wood engraver, the color smearer and the printer, all of whom have contributed to and are more or less entitled to credit for the result; and that is one reason why the artist-world of japan objects to or ignores the production of the artist's brush It is well known that artists of the _Ukiyo e_ school frequently indicated only by written instructions how their outline drawings for the prints should be colored, leaving the detail of such work to the color smearer Apart from the fact that the colors employed were the cheapest the market afforded, and are found often to be aardly applied, there is too much about the prints that is measured, hest sense Frequently le print The engravers had their specialties; soe),_ other for the lines of the face, others for the dress _(kimono),_ others still for pattern (MOYO), et cetera The ravers in Yedo were called _kashi+ra bori_ and were always employed on Utamaro and Hokusai prints

Many of the colors of these prints in their soft, neutral shades, are rapturously extolled by foreign connoisseurs as evidence of the marvelous taste of the japanese painter But, really, ti down such tints to their present delicate hues In this respect, like Persian rugs, they ie and exposure An additional objection to most of the prints is that they reproduce trivial, ordinary, every-day occurrences in the life of the mass of the people as itintended for sale to the common people, the subjects of them, however skilfully handled, had to be coher classes Soldiers, fare)_ for their wives and children, and they were generally sold for a penny apiece, so that in japan prints were a cheap substitute for art with the lower classes, just as Raspail says garlic has always been the ca _Ukiyo e_ prints at very low prices still continues in Tokyo, where every week or two such colored publications are sprung up in front of the book-stalls and are still as eagerly purchased by the coawa days

The prices the old prints now bring are out of all proportion to their intrinsic value, yet, such is the crescendo craze to acquire them that japan has been almost drained of the supply, the nu liood inals of a first or subsequent issue, called respectively, SHO HAN and SAI HAN, or they are reproductions more or less cleverly copied upon new blocks, or they are fraudulent iinal issues, often difficult to detect The very wormholes are burnt into them with SENKO or perfume sticks and clever workmen are e chapter could be written about their dishonest devices Copies of genuine prints (HON KOKU), made from new blocks after the manner of the ancient ones, abound, and were not intended to pass for originals Yedo, where the print industry was chiefly carried on, has had so rations that most of the old _Ukiyo e_ blocks have been destroyed

At Nagoya the house of To Heki Do still preserves the original blocks of the MANGWA or s of Hokusai, but they are much worn

Prints are known by various names, such as _ezoshi+_ (illustrations), _nishi+ki e_, _edo e_ (Yedo pictures), _sunmono_ and INSATSU It may be of interest to know that the print blocks, when so worn as to be no longer serviceable for prints, are sometimes converted into fire-boxes _(hibachi)_ and tobacco trays _(tobacco bon)_ which, when highly polished, are decorative and unique

Perhaps a useful purpose prints have served is to record the manners and customs of the people of the periods when they were struck off They show not only prevailing styles of dress and headdress, but also the pursuits and amusements of the common folk They are excellent depositaries of dress pattern (MOYO) or decoration, upon which fertile subject japan has always been a leading authority In the early Meiji period print painters frequently delegated such minute pattern work to their best pupils, whose seals (IN) will be found upon the prints thus elaborated The prints preserve the ruling fashi+ons of different periods in cole and multiple screens, fire-boxes and other household ornaments and utensils They also furnish speciarden plans, flower arrangeain, they reproduce the stage, with its famous actors in historical dramas; battle scenes, arriors and heroes; characters in folk-lore and other stories, and wrestling matches, with the popular chaood reproductions of Chinese and japanese writing, in poems and descriptive prose pieces Hokusai illustrated much of the classic poetry of China and japan, as well as the SENJIMON, or Thousand Character Chinese classic, a work forinal characters for this reishi+ The prints have aided in teaching elee of japanese children in this connection is often remarkable and may be attributed to the educational influence of the _Ukiyo e_ publications

So there are certainly good words to be said for the prints, but they are not japanese art in its best sense, however interesting as a subordinate phase of it, and in no sense are they japanese painting

If limited to a choice of one artist of the _Ukiyo e_ school, no e, whose landscapes fairly reproduce the senti his na that artist's color schereater than Hiroshi+ge's, but japanese artists do not take Hokusai seriously His pictures, they declare, reflect the restlessness of his disposition; his peaks of Fuji are all too pointed, and his erated and theatrical Utamaro's woraceful line drawing,-as correct as Greek drapery in marble

Iwasa Matahei, the founder of the popular school, was a pupil of Mitsunori, a Kyoto artist and follower of Tosa Matahei disliked Tosa subjects and preferred to depict the fleeting usages of the people, so he was nicknainated the naenuine Matahei prints He dates back to the seventeenth century Profile faces in original screen paintings by hi painted as though seen in full face

Hishi+kawa Moronobu was his follower and admirer He was an artist of Yedo Nishi+kawa Sukenobu belonged to the Kano school and was a pupil of Kano Eiko He adopted the _Ukiyo e_ style and depicted the pastimes of women and the portraits of actors He lived two hundred and twenty years ago and in his tiue Torii Kyonobu painted women and actors and invented the kind of pictured theatrical pohich are still in fashi+on, placarded at the entrance to theaters and showing striking incidents in the play

Suzuki Harunobu never painted actors, preferring to reproduce the feminine beauties of his time It was to his careful work that was first applied the term _nishi+ki e_ or brocade pictures, on account of the charm of his decorativethe n writers on japanese prints Fenollosa stands pro tie, and lived the life of the people He was in great sympathy with them and with their art and enjoyed exceptional opportunities for seeing and studying the best treasures of that country Had he possessed the training necessary to paint in the japanese style I do not think he would have devoted so, ”Ah!” he cried, ”that is what I have always longed to do Sooner or later I shall follow your exae work on japanese prints

His death was a real loss to the art literature of japan During eight years he was in the service of the japanese govern the s, _kakemono_, _makimono,_ and BYOBU (pictures, scrolls and screens), to be found in the various Buddhist and other tehout the ely leave this land of light? japan, to my mind, stands for whatever is beautiful in nature and true in art; here I hope to pass the reenuine enthusias else beautiful in that country japan impresses in this way all who see it under proper conditions, but unfortunately the ordinary traveler, pushed for tiuides, never gets hts, the shops and the curio dealers

[Snow Scene in Kaga, by Kubota Beisen Plate IV]

Snow Scene in Kaga, by Kubota Beisen Plate IV

The question is often asked, ”Is there any good book on japanese painting?” I know of none in any language except japanese The following are a the best works on the subject:

A History of japanese Painting (HON CHO GAshi+), by Kano Eno