Yamato-e Painting

a genre of painting that flourished during Japan’s Heian period (794 - 1185)

• term yamato-e — Japanese painting, was coined during this period

• meant to distinguish painting concerned with Japanese subject matter from featuring themes imported from China ( Kara-e, Tang Painting )

Japanese subjects included tales from Japanese literature and history, activities and motifs associated with the four seasons in Japan

• painting depicted locals, typified by the soft, rolling hills of the Kyoto countryside

Yamato-e evolved in meaning to indicate not just the content or setting of the paintings but also paintings that empoly particular form conventions

• figures highly stylized, abbreviated facial features

• other stylistic features included use of bright, thick pigments, large bands of clouds that obscure and divide space, and a technique known as fukinuki yatai (“blown off roof”)

  • roofs of buildings are removed to provide a glimpse into the interior from above

• several techniques are demonstrated in a sliding-door painting fragment remounted as a hanging scroll (“The Ivy” chapter of The Tale of Genji)

  • painting dates to the early 17th century during the Edo Period ( 1615 - 1868 ) and preseves the Yamato-e style

• developed alongside other uniquely Japanese artistic advancements of the Heian period , waka poetry.

  • 31 syllable poems were sometimes created in conjunction with yamato-e or inspired by them

• few yamato-e paintings remains because many of these early works were executed on folding screens and sliding door panels

  • moveable walls were functional architectural elements and were lost along with the buildings

  • existence of yamato-e screens and panels are documented in prose and waka poetry

• painting took format of illustrated handscrolls , emaki

  • handscrolls could be rolled up and stored away safely

  • intimate formats were read in small segments opened one at a time like a book

• the Illustrated Legends of the Kitano Shrine, dates back to the Kamakura period ( 1185 - 1333 )

  • retelling of the founding of the Kitano Shrine of the native Japanese Shinto religion

  • story tells of the Heian-period poet and statesman Sugawara Michizane ( 845 - 903 ) who was falsely accused of treason and died in exile

  • number of disasters befell on the capital after his death , believed that his spirit was seeking revenge on those who had wronged him

Kamakura period , power shifted from the courtly nobility to the military class

• included narratices revolving around the leaders of newly formed Buddhist sects that appealed to the warrior elite

• The Illustrated Life of Shinran, a set of Buddhist paintings that makes use of Yamato-e techniques

  • each scroll divided into levels like a handscroll that has been cut up and rearranged

  • relate to the life of Japanese monk Shinran ( 1173 - 1263 ), who laid the framework for the True Pure Land school of Buddhism

• painters embraced portraiture

  • realistic yamato-e portrayals known as nise-e or “Likeness painting” which illustrated

    • military heroes

    • courtiers

    • famous poets

  • meant to be faithful representations of particular personalities

  • popular theme was the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets

Muromachi period (1392 - 1573 ), new ink painting from China gained popularity

• competed with the classic yamato-e for the attention of the Japanese elite

• Tosa school - official painters to the imperial court ( beginning of 15th century ) sought to keep yamato-e alive

• shiki-e focused on the transformation of one natural element as it cycles through the seasons

tsukinami-e were paintings that showed the activities of the twelve months of the year

• nature and its cycles are not seperated from the human realm but intertwined

during the edo period, yamato-e evolved in new ways

• reached an expanded audience as new social structures led to the development of a wealthy merchant class

• domain of court painters (Tosa school) were taken up by town painters and other artists who took advantage of the new market

• yamato-e influenced other styles of Japanese painting that emerged like:

  • Rinpa Style and ukiyo-e woodblock prints

  • Tawaraya Soutatsu (died ca. 1640) and Hon’ami Koetsu (1558 - 1637) drew many of the same themes such as

    • classical literature and poetry while incorporating a new stylistic element and reworking classical motifs

  • ukiyo-e, focused on japanese people, places, and customs but in a distinct format with a empahsis on contemporary world