Part 4 (1/2)

CHAPTER FOUR LAWS GOVERNING THE CONCEPTION AND EXECUTION OF A PAINTING

When a japanese artist is preparing to paint a picture he considers first the space 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 har 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 coen the manner in which the same shall be handled In a landscape, proportion s and trees, while design will determine how the sa the trees partially hide the buildings, thus provoking a desire to see ination is called YUKAshi+ The japanese 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 h 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 _takuely 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 n the artists of Tokyo have always differed fro at lively and even startling effects, while the latter seek to produce a quieter or more subdued _(otonashi+)_ result

Where landscapes or trees are to be painted upon a single panel, panels on each side of it ned upon the central panel in connection with the two additional ones used for elaboration In this hen the side panels are withdrawn the effect is as though such landscape or trees were seen through an open , and all cramped or forced appearance is avoided The _Ukiyo e_ artists practiced a si, narrow, panel-like prints of ht beams in a room

The literature of art abounds in instances illustrative of correct proportion and design

The artist Buncho being requested to paint a crow flying across a _fusu door-like panels, afterfrom the last of these subdivisions, the space of the other three suggesting the rapid flight which the crow had already accoement thus observed was universally applauded

In the wooded graveyard of the tea Tanyu) are to be found, is a stoneexecuted an order for a picture and his patron observing that it was lacking in design and that he old 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 japanese art which is at the base of one of the peculiar charms of japanese pictures, not merely in the whole coht escape the attention at first glance, requires that there should be in every painting the sentiht and shade This is called IN YO and is based upon the principle of contrast for heightening effects The terinated 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, passive and active, lower and upper, even and odd This ter A picture with its lights and shades properly distributed confor crows, one with its beak closed, the other with its beak open; two tigers in their lair, one with the ons, one ascending to the sky and the other descending to the ocean, illustrate 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 co it

The law of form, in art called KEISHO or KAKKO, is widely applied for deters but also their suitable or proper presentation according to circumstances It has to do with all kinds of attitudes and dress It deterar, 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 ) 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 nifies also the proprieties; it is a lahich enforces agerations, inartistic peculiarities and _gri historical subjects and thethem is called KO JUTSU Special principles apply to this department of japanese 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 japan 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 so

The ter the practices of the Imperial household, Buddhist and shi+nto rites Before atteure the painter hly versed in the appointments of palace interiors, the rules of etiquette, the occupations and pastie),_ _daimyo_ and their military attendants _(samurai),_ the costumes of the females _(tsubone)_ of the Imperial household and their duties and accoh 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 japanese 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 japanese 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 co slorm, where the wind makes the bamboos and trees take on neeird and fantastic shapes

The landscape _(Plate XVIII)_ contains a lofty e, 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 principal subject, its complimentary adjunct, and auxiliary details Thus is the work rounded out to its perfection

[Tiger, by Kishi+ Chikudo Plate VI]

Tiger, by Kishi+ 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 principal feature It co 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, e 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