art appreciation: art of india, china, and japan
DESCRIPTION
Highlights of religion, history, architecture, sculpture, and painting from the Asian region. Based on the textbook "Gateways to Art" (2012).TRANSCRIPT
Art of India, China, and Japan
T, R, 9:30AM-10:50AMProfessor Paige Prater
Mapping it!
Asian Religious Traditions
• Buddhism– Buddha’s teaching (563-483 BCE) – life’s
difficulties>enlightenment>nirvana• Confucianism
– Confucius’ philosophy (551-479 BCE) – ethics for social order• Daoism – The Way
– Lao Zi (604 BCE) – Dao de jing: harmony with universe• Hinduism – karma, reincarnation, polytheistic• Shintoism- The Way of the Gods – respect for nature
and ancestors, polytheistic. Kami = spirits
Overview of Asian Artistic Styles
• Indian art: elaborate decoration/human body; sensual
• Chinese art: religion, heritage, and ancestors; precise, symmetrical
• Japanese art: nature; asymmetrical, organic, spontaneous, contemplative
Art of India
• Buddhist and Hindu
Great Stupa, third century BCE, enlarged under the Sunga and Andhra Dynasties, c. 150–50 BCE, Sanchi, India
Detail of East gate at Great Stupa, 3rd Century BCE
• Pilgrims: east gate, clockwise
• Stupas/gateways (toranas)= recreation of the universe in a 3D mandala pattern.
• 35’ columns• Scenes of Buddha’s
multiple lives (jatakas)
Bodhisattva Padmapani, Cave 1, Ajanta, India. Cave painting,
second half of 5th century
• 29 caves carved into a horse-shoe-shaped cliff in Ajanta (western India)
• Buddhist sculptures/paintings
• Lotus• Bodhissatva – one who
achieved nirvana but voluntarily stays to help others reach enlightenment
Indian Art: Hinduism• 3rd largest world
religion; most followers in India
• Large temple complex in northern India
• Dedicated to Shiva, Hindu god of creation and destruction
Kandariya Mahadeva temple, c. 1000, Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh, India
Detail of exterior sculpture, Kandariya
Mahadeva temple
• More than 600 sculptures
• Sensual• Unity of
male/female represents unity of cosmos
Indian Art: ISLAM
• Mid-16th century, Mughals took over India (Mongolian descent, Muslim), ruled hundreds of years– Jahangir, “World Conqueror” (1569-1627)– Shah Jahan, (1592-1666) and wife, Mumtaz Mahal
(1593-1631)• Sufism• Commissioned artworks
– Persian– Indian
Bichitr, Jahangir Preferring a Sufi Shaykh to Kings, from the St. Petersburg album, Mughal Dynasty, c. 1615–18. Opaque watercolor, gold, and ink on paper, 18⅞ × 13”. Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C
Taj Mahal, 1631-1648, Agra, India• White marble inscribed; reflects the sun• Dome: 58’ diameter, 213’ tall
Art of China• 221 BCE – first unified Chinese
dynasty• Buddhism and Daoism• Calligraphy
– Different dialects, ONE written form of communication!
Wang Xizhi Portion of a Letter from the Feng Ju Album, mid-4th century CE, 24.7 x46.8 cm.
Art of China
• Scene from life of well-known Chinese writer: Ge Zichuan– First alchemist– Daoist
Wang Meng, Ge Zhichuan Moving His Dwelling, c.1360. Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper, 54¾ × 22⅞”. Palace Museum, Beijing, China
Art of ChinaZhang Zeduan, Along the River during the Qingming Festival, Northern Song Dynasty, 11th century. Handscroll, ink and color on silk, 10” × 17’ 3”. Palace Museum, Beijing, China
Zhang Zeduan, Along the River during the Qingming Festival, Northern Song Dynasty, 11th century. DETAIL
• 800 people, daily activities
• Right to left
Art of China
• Respect of afterlife• Tomb objects
Ritual wine vessel (guang), late Shang dynasty, c. 1700–1050 BCE. Bronze, 6½ × 3¼ × 8½”. Brooklyn Museum, New York
• Lady Dai – noblewoman from Han Dynasty
• Tomb excavated in 1972
Detail from painted banner from tomb of Lady Dai Hou Fu-ren, Han Dynasty, c. 168 BCE. Silk. Hunan Museum, Changsha, China
Art of Japan• Buddhism and
Shintoism• Chanoyu – Way of
the Tea; peace and solace, zen buddhism
• Tsumugi-ori textiles– Water, light, and
wind– kimonos
Sonoko Sasaki, Sea in the Sky, 2007.Tsumugi-ito silk thread and vegetable dyes, 70⅞ × 51¼”. Collection of the artist
Sonoko Sanaki at her loom…
Art of Japan
• 16th century tea master
• Only remaining room by him
Sen no Rikyu, Taian teahouse, interior, c. 1582. Myoki-an Temple, Kyoto, Japan