Robinson,+Aliza


 * Meiji Japanese Artwork**

Modern Japanese art started with the Meiji period dating from 1868 and ending with the death of Emperor Meiji in 1912.When Emperor Komei  died in 1868 prince  Mutsuhito took over Japan as Emperor as a result Japan ended its isolation from the rest of the world and began trading with the west. Within the Meiji Period two types of artwork were prominent in Japan, Yooga and Nihonga. Yooga, western-influenced, was popular because Japan had isolated themselves throughout the 18th Century and now felt behind, as a result they began to utilize western style art techniques. Nihonga was a more traditional Japanese style of artwork that was utilized at this time; the majority of people using this style were those who worried about losing their culture during the Meiji period. **Nihonga** ‘Nihon’ meaning Japan and ‘ga’ meaning painting were put together as Nihonga meaning Japanese paintings. Nihonga according to a dictionary resource is “a term used to describe paintings that have been made in accordance with traditional Japanese artistic conventions, techniques, and materials. This style of artwork is created by painting with a brush onto washi paper. ‘iwa-enogu’ which are rock pigments are used as the paint. These rock pigments are derived from natural minerals, shells, corals, and semi-precious stones. These things are then ground up into one of ten different stages of texture ranging from very fine to sand sized grains, the finer the grain the lighter the color. These powders are then mixed with glue and water and painted onto washi paper. There are 1,500 basic colors possible from these types of paints. Light is reflected and refracted from the texture of the grains constantly. ** Yooga** The Yooga art style is artwork created by the Japanese with a large western influence. Yooga encompasses oil paintings, watercolors, pastels, ink sketches, lithography, and etching. Takahasha Yuichi is known as the first yoga painter, he was taught by an English artist. Although Yooga includes many methods of artwork and styles, it is mainly referred to as oil on canvas paintings. **History** In 1876 the Meiji government established the Kobu Bijutsu Gakko, a technial art school that taught Yooga. In the 1880’s a strong dislike for the westernization of Japan occurred and as a repercussion the popularity of Yooga lowered substantially. As a result of the lowered popularity of Yooga Kobu Bijutsu Gakko was closed down and in its place the Tokyo Bijutsu Gakko was opened in 1887. Tokyo Bijutsu Gakko only taught Nihonga. I 1889 Yooga artists established Meiji Bijutsakai, a Yooga technical arts school. Ever since, Nihonga and Yoogi have been the two major sections in the art world for the Meiji era. Starting in 1926 the Showa period began, now attempts are being made to bring back the traditions of Japan through artwork. Many differences are prevalent when discussing Early Japanese artwork and modern Japanese artwork. Although the Japanese try to revive the simplistic traditional Japanese artwork, the modernistic artwork done by the Japanese to date is far more vivacious and aggressive compared to the original style of Japanese art. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________  ** Works Cited **

1) "Artist Donation: Countenance." // The By/For Project // . Web. 11 Apr. 2011. .  2) "Japanese Art." // Build Your Own Broadband and Phone Package with TalkTalk //. Web. 10 Apr. 2011. [] 3) "Japanese Art - New World Encyclopedia." // Info:Main Page - New World Encyclopedia // . Web. 11 Apr 2011.         4) "Madhu Jain's Website - About Nihonga." // Madhu Jain - // Web. 11 Apr. 2011. . 5) "Meiji Art in Japan." // ESL Teachers Board, English as a Second Language, ESL Job Overseas, ESL Teachers, //  // Free ESL Materials, Free List of International ESL Schools. Learn English Free. // Web. 10 Apr. 2011.     .     6) "Nihonga : Definition of Nihonga and Synonym of Nihonga (English)." // Dictionaries and Translators on // // Dictionary.sensagent.com //. Web. 11 Apr. 2011. .