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Lance V. Rapelye

Mrs. McNeill

HUM 2210

3rd of November, 2016

A Brief History of Japanese Ukiyo-e and Yamato-e Art

Art is an expression, which each and every single one of us is

capable of, but the Ancient Japanese had an intriguing form of art,

called the Ukiyo-e and Yamato-e. Both of these art styles differ in many

ways, as well as share some similarities, but today theyre not as

prominent as they were before. So join me on a ride, as we explore the

beautiful and elegant Ukiyo-e and Yamato-e arts.

So lets begin with the older of the two, the Yamato-e arts.

Yamato-e art is actually an art genre, that was once popular during the

Heian Period of Japan, which lasted from 794 1185 A.D. The Heian

Period actually means, the period of calm and tranquility, which is

why art was so loved at the time, while the term Yamato-e means,

Japanese painting. Though this term was only coined during this

period, as there were Kara-e paintings, or Tang paintings, which were

Chinese paintings coming into Japan, during Chinas Tang Period. The

Yamato-e paintings portrayed tales, literature, and history of Japan, as

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well as some influence from the landscapes of Japan. Some of the

artistic elements of Yamato-e paintings are bright pigments, highly

detailed figures, but not so much in the face, large could bands, and

the fukinuki yatai, or blown off roof, technique, which was used to

portray a buildings inside. The paintings were typically drawn onto

kakemono, emakimono, byobu, or shji, which mean scrolls,

handscrolls, folding screens, or panels, respectively. One other art form

that was created around this time is Waka Poetry, which are thirty-one

syllable poems. These poems sometimes used there decorated papers

to resemble Yamato-e artwork, and they also helped preserve the

knowledge of many Yamato-e arts, as these arts were places in

buildings, causing these works to get neglected, any not preserved.

Now as the time periods moved on, Yamato-e arts gained new or

different characteristics. Such as, during the Kamakura-e Period,

Yamato-e arts took towards portraiture works, and created works

showing Buddhists and military more. Then during the Muromachi

Period, artists used new ink painting styles that were carried over from

China, as well as create more works showing the four seasons, Spring,

Summer, Autumn, and Winter. The earliest living Yamato-e works are

the four ever-famous 12th century handscrolls, created as parts of The

Tale of Genji. Now this is only a portion of the set from this work, with
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the complete scroll set totaling about 450, and over 100 paintings.

Two of the paintings from The Tale of Genji, that Id like to look at is,

the pair of six panel screens. So Im not sure if the works Im referring

to have any distinct name, but these two works are essentially two

artworks that show the fukinuki yatai technique, as well as the look of

clouds that were very common in Yamato-e works. We can see in one

pair of panels, scenes of men on a beach with a bridge leading to a

village, and another scene of people in court. While on the other pair,

we see warriors training, as well as people being transported by horse-

drawn chariot.

The youngest of these two art styles, the Ukiyo-e arts, is a genre

of artworks that were popular from around 1615 1868 A.D., which

covers the Edo Period which is from 1615 1858 A.D., and then Meiji

Period from 1858 1912 A.D., though at this time Ukiyo-e arts were not

popular. Now originally the Buddhist term ukiyo meant the sadness

(uki) of life (yo). Then in the 1600s, Japan entered a time period of

peace and prosperity, which gave the work uki, the term to float.

This is why Ukiyo-e arts are the pictures of the floating world. The

themes for Ukiyo-e arts typically consisted of kabuki actors (yakusha-

e), beautiful women (bijin-ga), and landscapes. And another reason

why Ukiyo-e arts were so popular, was because they would generally
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be painted onto woodblocks, which allowed these artworks to be fairly

cheap, and available to the people from the low-high classes. Then

later, in the early 16th century, people created illustrated books, or

books with only pictures to tell the story, which the Japanese call ebon.

There is one artwork from the Yamato-e works that my Humanities

teacher tells me well be learning about, and I cant wait for; The Great

Wave off Kanagawa! Though you mayve heard it by different names,

Under the Wave off Kanagawa or maybe just The Great Wave, this

piece is something that I find rather intriguing, and stunningly

beautiful. This work was made around 1830-1833, by the artist

Katsushika Hokusai, and it shows what the title says, The Great Wave

off Kanagawa. Now this piece of art is a colored 10 14.9 woodblock,

and is Hokusais most famous work. As many different works grew in

popularity, the Japanese sold to the West, but the Ukiyo-e arts became

worthless, as they lost appreciation.

So all in all, the Japanese produced many great kinds of artworks,

two of which being the Yamato-e and Ukiyo-e artworks. The Yamato-e

arts were popular from around 794 1185 A.D., making them the older

out of these two arts. And the Ukiyo-e arts were popular from around

1615 1868 A.D., but still remained in production until 1912, just with

a loss in popularity. While the Yamato-e arts were produced on many

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different canvases, such as handscrolls or folding screens, the Ukiyo-

e arts were produced on woodblocks and put into picture books. So the

Yamato-e arts were produced more for the working-class and nobility,

as they costed more due to their different mediums, while the Ukiyo-e

pieces had fewer mediums, and became available to the poorer

people. A special thing to note is that, as the Ukiyo-e arts lost

popularity during the Meiji Period, they expanded these works to the

Western world, which is a fairly big deal, and rather impressive. Both

use different inks to help paint, and did hold a large amount of

popularity at one point. So in the end, both art types are major art

styles that occurred during their time periods and are still referred to

today.

Works Cited Page

Hokusai., By Katsushika. "Ukiyo-e Woodblock Prints (c.1670-1900)."

Ukiyo-e Woodblock Prints: History, Characteristics. N.p., n.d. Web.

03 Nov. 2016.
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Www.tendercreative.com, TENDER -. "Isabella Stewart Gardner

Museum." : Pair of Six-Panel Screens: Scenes from the Tale of

Genji. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Nov. 2016.

Willmann, Author: Anna. "Yamato-e Painting | Essay | Heilbrunn

Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art." The

Met's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Anna Willmann, Oct.

2003. Web. 02 Nov. 2016.

By Nonomura Ninsei (16251675). Stoneware with Polychrome Enamel

Decoration. Courtesy of the Asian Art Museum, Gift of the

Connoisseurs' Council and Bruce and Betty Alberts, 1991.230.This

Bowl Was Used for the Tea Ceremony. When and How Did the

Japanese People Began to Drink Tea?nn. "Khan Academy." Khan

Academy. Leila Anne Harris, n.d. Web. 02 Nov. 2016.

"Ukiyo-e - The Art of Asia - Explore the Collection." Ukiyo-e - The Art of

Asia - Explore the Collection. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Nov. 2016.

Harris, Frederick. Ukiyo-e: The Art of the Japanese Print. Tokyo: Tuttle,

2010. Print.

A total of 1,018 words were used for the body paragraphs, with a total

of 2,234 used for the whole essay.