Yamato-e in the National School of Japanese Paintings

The national school of painting in Japan that was founded in Yamato (the former name of Japan and the district with the capital of Nara). It is characterized by using purely Japanese themes drawn from national poetry and novels, with or without accompanying text, completely devoid of the influence of Chinese culture. The paintings “show the beauty of nature, with famous places meisho-e (…) or the four seasons shiki-e (…). Characteristic features of Yamato-e include many small figures and careful depictions of details of buildings and other objects, the selection of only some elements of a scene to be fully depicted, the rest either being ignored or covered by a ‘floating cloud’, an oblique view from above showing interiors of buildings as though through a cutaway roof, and very stylized depiction of landscape” (“Yamato-e” 2020).

Uji Bridge Screen, an example of later Yamato-e from the seventeenth century. Image by Japanischer Maler – The Yorck Project (2002) 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei (DVD-ROM), distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH. ISBN: 3936122202. Public domain. Photo and caption source: Photo and caption source: “Yamato-e” (2020). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.

The pictures are often on scrolls that can be hung on a wall (…), handscrolls (…) that are read from right to left, or on a folding screen (…) or panel” (“Yamato-e” 2020). Inspired by Tang dynasty paintings, it developed during the Heian period (794-1185). Yamato-e paintings, however, “stand for a style and are not restricted to a particular period” (Ibid.)

Featured image: A scene (AZUMA YA: East Wing) of Illustrated scroll of Tale of Genji (written by MURASAKI SHIKIBU (the eleventh century). The multi-panel curtain at the center bottom of the image is a kichō. The decorated sliding door panels at the top of the image are fusuma. The scroll was made in about ca. 1130 ACE and is in the Tokugawa Museum in Nagoya, Japan. Image by Imperial court in Kyoto – Genji Monogatari Emaki published by the Tokugawa Museum in Nagoya, Japan, 1937. Public domain. Colours intensified. Photo and caption source: “Yamato-e” (2020). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Yamato-e” (2020). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia. Available at <https://bit.ly/30ln81D>. [Accessed on 6th March, 2021].

PWN (2007). Słownik terminologiczny sztuk pięknych, p. 446. Kubalska-Sulkiewicz K., Bielska-Łach M., Manteuffel-Szarota A. eds. Wydanie piąte. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.

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