Japanese Art

3rd floor

The exhibition includes more than 450 works and covers the period from the end of the 12th century to the beginning of the 20th century.

Exposition

Japan is an island country in East Asia consisting of about six thousand islands.

The four largest are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku. Located on the eastern coast of the Asian continent Japan is often called the "Land of the Rising Sun".

Japanese art was emerging in difficult historical and natural conditions. Despite the isolation Japan has strong contacts with China and Korea due to close location to Asia.

During several centuries Japanese culture was influenced by Chinese philosophy and aesthetics but the spiritual and art life in Japan was developing in its own individual way.

The feudal period that began in 6th-7th century and continued till 19th century became one the most significant period of Japanese art.

The exposition includes more than 450 subjects of art and handicraft created from the 11th through 20th centuries, and covers a wide range of art styles including Buddhist wood sculpture (images 1,2), monochrome ink paintings (im.3), tea ceremony utensils (im.4), woodblock prints Ukiyo-e (im.5), minimalistic sculpture (im.6), lacquered ceramics (im.7), porcelain (im.8), national dresses and swords (im.9-10).

History of Japanese art is closely connected with the spread of Buddhism, which had come to the country in the 6th century. Through the Buddhism Japan got accustomed to the many centuries-old cultural traditions of the East, developed in India, China and Korea. While creating works of art for religious purpose and mastering the experience of Chinese and Korean masters, the Japanese formed their specific schools of sculpture, painting and applied art.

Among the unique pieces of Buddhist wooden sculpture of the 12-15th centuries, the real masterpieces are the figure of Bodhisattva Fugen on an elephant (12th century) and the statue of Buddha Amid (12th century). They demonstrate a style that formed within the Buddhist pictorial canon at the end of the Heian period (794-1185). This style became the embodiment of the aesthetic ideals of Japanese aristocracy, featuring a cult of subtle elegance and somewhat feminine grace, intimacy of images that turned the object of religious worship into an object of admiration (Fig. 1,2).

Under the influence of Zen Buddhism, which penetrated from China at the turn of the 12-13th centuries, and the Chinese monochrome landscape of the Song period (10-13th centuries), monochrome ink painting (jap. suibokuga) appeared in Japan and influenced strongly the subsequent development of Japanese painting anyway. In the exhibition of the State Museum of Oriental Art it is represented by the paintings on scrolls and a painted screen. Among the exhibits are the works by the masters of the Unkoku school, the art direction of Bunjinga («Painting of intellectuals») and the screen "Monkeys catching the moon reflection in the water" by the artist of the famous Kano school (Fig. 3).

1. Bodhisattva Fugen (Samantabhadra)

1. Bodhisattva Fugen (Samantabhadra)

Late 12th century

Wood, lacquer, gold plating, metal

H. 103 cm

2. Buddha Amida (Amida-butsu)

2. Buddha Amida (Amida-butsu)

13th cent.

Wood, lacquer, gold plating, metal

Н. 505 cm

3. Double-panel screen. «Monkeys truing to catch the moon reflected on the water»

3. Double-panel screen. «Monkeys truing to catch the moon reflected on the water»

Kano Tohsun (?-1723).

Late 17th cent.

Paper, ink

185×190 cm

The Museum is fortunate in possessing one of the best collections of ceramics, intended for the classical tea ceremony cha-no-yu (in the literal translation means: «hot water for the tea»). The green tea for this ceremony is ground to powder, stirred with a whisk in a ceramic cup and brewed with boiling water.

Thanks to Sen no Rikyū (1522 – 1591), who is considered the historical figure with the most profound influence on cha-no-yu, the Japanese tea ceremony turned into a detailed action with a certain set of things. Very soon the ceremony became widespread among all levels of society. The increasing popularity of cha-no-yu gave a powerful impetus for the development of ceramic production. This section on view comprises a wide diversity of objects (tea bowls, tea caddies, fresh water vessels, flower vases, incense burners and cases (Fig. 4)), produced in famous kilns of Seto, Shigaraki, Iga, Tamba, Mino, Satsuma, Karatsu in the 16-18th centuries as well as Raku and Ido wares covering the same period.

In the halls of the museum a part of a traditional Japanese interior with a tea-room is also recreated. It demonstrates the design features of national interior and its spatial organization, which most fully reflected the ideas of inextricable connection between man and nature, which had been rooted in the consciousness of the Japanese since ancient times, and for centuries have been organically supported by Zen Buddhism. Placing things in the traditional interior, that seems almost empty, makes it possible to feel the special treatment of the Japanese to the object world, to convey the atmosphere of increased attention to each thing.

4. Black Rakutea bowl, called Zhuang-tze, with butterfly and character

4. Black Rakutea bowl, called Zhuang-tze, with butterfly and character "yume (dream)" design

17th cent.

Glazed ceramics

H. 9,5

The art of the late Middle Ages (the 17th – the first half of the 19th century) is represented well and extensively. It was the period of urban growth and flourishing of arts and crafts.

By this time the aesthetical concept of iki, implying the spirit of seductive, bright and sensual beauty, had come to the fore. The examples of ukiyo-e (translates as "picture of the floating world") coloured woodblock prints introduce the viewers to the most eminent masters, such as Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806), Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), Ando Hiroshige (1797-1858), Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1864) and others (Fig. 5). The artists produced woodblock prints and paintings of such subjects as female beauties, kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers, scenes from history and folk tales, travel scenes and landscapes, flora and fauna, etc.

The section of miniature sculptures (netsuke and figurines okimono) occupies two special showcases in the Museum, including about two hundred items, dated to the 18th – early 20th century. Exhibits are grouped according to the themes employed in the netsuke: mythology, history, literature, theatre, folklore, genre scenes, animals, plants, daily objects (Fig. 6). These subject matters appealed to the taste of townspeople who were responsible for the artistic development in the Edo period (1603 - 1868).

The lacquer art is also represented, and first of all Maki-e (literally: «sprinkled picture») – special lacquer decoration technique in which pictures, patterns, and letters are drawn with lacquer on the surface of lacquerware, and then metal powder such as gold or silver is sprinkled and fixed on the surface of the lacquerware. It first appeared in the Heian period (794-185). Among the exhibited items are caskets, incense burners, teapots, a bundai reading and writing table, a scroll case, a food box, a smoking device, examples of inro (perfectly crafted boxes originally used to keep a personal seal and medicine). The pride of place in this part of the exhibition is held by shari-zushi, portable shrine-shaped reliquary in gold lacquer. By the using of masterly variations of gold chips and foil, a combination of relief and flat patterns, inlaid with mother-of-pearl, metal alloys and semiprecious stones, the masters achieved extraordinary colour and picturesque effects, for example, the radiance of gold on gold, or likening the gold placer to ink strokes (Fig. 7).

The section on porcelain incorporates Imari and Kakiemon wares produced in Arita kilns. Plates, bowls, vases with domed lids, objects made according to western models (a shaving basin, a coffee pot) demonstrate the features of the export style of decoration, which was flourishing under the influence of the foreign trade and was based on the creative interpretation of Chinese prototypes (Fig. 8). The exhibition also features the articles from Kutani, Hirado and Kyoto ranging in date from the 17th to the early 20th century as well as Satsuma earthenware of the Meiji period (1868-1912).

5. «Beauty with battledore» from «Five images of Beauties» series. Published by Tsuruya Kinsuke

5. «Beauty with battledore» from «Five images of Beauties» series. Published by Tsuruya Kinsuke

Kitagawa Utamaro (1753 – 1806)

18th cent.

Paper, color woodblock print

37×24,8 см

6. Netsuke

6. Netsuke

18th-19th cent.

Ivory carving

7. Portable shrine- shape Reliquary shari-zushi

7. Portable shrine- shape Reliquary shari-zushi

18th cent.

Wood, Maki-e lacquer, hardstone, glass

16×4×19 сm

8. Coffee pot

8. Coffee pot

Early of 18th century

Porcelain, undergalaze blue, overglaze iron red, enamel, gilding

H. 37,5 cm

The Edo period (1603 - 1868) is the time of emerging of a nationwide type of clothing, which now is widely known as "kimono" (literally "the thing to wear").

These are wide and long robes of a straight cut, which differ in the length of the sleeves and sewn from rectangular cloth of standard size. Their ornamentation includes traditional motifs, borrowed from painting (cranes, pines, birds, flowers, plants, landscape compositions), calligraphic inscriptions, as well as compositions inspired by the images of classical poetry and benevolent subjects. The exhibition shows main types of kimono: kosode (lit. "small sleeves"), furisode (lit. "swinging sleeves") with wide obi belts that became popular in the 18th century. These traditional garments, decorated with an intricate woven pattern, hand painting or embroidery, are marked by an elegant conviviality, which clearly manifested the life-affirming aspect of medieval culture, remained in traditional costume to the present day (Fig. 9).

The metalwork section contains several types of Japanese swords, sword-guards and other accessories worn by every samurai (Fig. 10). The sword was regarded as a sacred object, given by the sun goddess Amaterasu Omikami (the mythical ancestress of Japan) to her grandson, whom she sent to earth to rule and eradicate the evil. Together with the sacred jewel of magatama (shining curved jasper bead) and the mirror, the sword made up the three imperial treasures. For the military class, considered the highest level in the social hierarchy of medieval society, the sword was both a weapon and a symbol of class affiliation, honor and dignity of the samurai.

9. Furisode kimono

9. Furisode kimono

19th century

Silk, hand-dyeing, yuzen-zome

183×140 cm

10. Tachi sword

10. Tachi sword

Osafune Sukesada

19th century

teel, silver, composite metals, lacquer, Batoidea skeen

L. of the sword in mounting 105 cm

The sculptural group «Eagle on pine-tree» and two-sided four-panel folding screen with the scene of stormy sea displayed in the central showcase represent the art of the Meiji period (1868 - 1912). These are the masterpieces of particular importance as they belong to the ceremonial gifts made by Emperor Meiji to Nikolai II, the Emperor of Russia, on the occasion of his coronation in 1896.

The «Eagle on pine-tree» is an outstanding exhibit from an artistic and historical point of view. It dated back to a turning point in Japanese history, when the country entered the world stage, petting an end to the period of long isolation, and demonstrated the achievements of its ancient national culture. The figure of the eagle in natural size is considered a largest the largest sculpture in ivory in the world. It incorporates more than one thousand and five hundred elaborately finished fragments to form feathers, which show a wide diversity of size and shape. The wingspan amounts to one hundred and sixty four centimeters. The head and upper part of the neck are carved out of a single elephant tusk. The eyes of the bird are double-inlaid with light-amber-tinted and black horn to reproduce eyeballs and pupils respectively. Black horn is also used for the claws. The eagle sits on a large natural stump of a pine-tree that in turn is placed on a flat cloud-shaped base decorated in lacquer. The total height of the group is equal to two hundred and thirty two centimeters. It stands against the folding screen arranged as a picture background for the sculpture. The four panels of the front side are designed to compose one large piece in silk embroidered with breaking waves. The embroidery is mainly satin stitch. The reverse of the screen with flying birds is cut-velvet silk enhanced by the inclusion of «gold paint» (gold powder blended with glue) for creating cloudy effects. This unique ensemble ranks high among the artistic pieces of the Meiji period (Fig. 11).

11. «Eagle on the pine-tree»

11. «Eagle on the pine-tree»

K. Kaneda (1847-?)

Kioto, late 19th century

Ivory carving with horn inlay, pine-wood

H. 232 cm