Page:Brinkley - The Art of Japan, vol. 1.djvu/44

24 originator—the Priest of the Toba Monastery (Toba Sōjō) otherwise Minamoto no Kakuyu—particular emotions were emphasized by exaggerating the part of the body affected by them, so that accuracy of drawing, in the Occidental sense of the term, became a secondary consideration. Kakuyu, though generally remembered only as the father of this school, distinguished himself highly as a painter of religious and secular (Yamato) pictures, and the authenticated specimens—a very few rolls—of his comic drawings that have been handed down to posterity, show admirable power of brush and play of fancy. He had a host of successors in every age, the majority immeasurably inferior, some even greater than himself, and many whose style differed so essentially from his that they had nothing in common with him except a keen sense of humour. To appreciate the work of this School it is necessary to have an intimate knowledge of Japanese legends, folk lore, proverbs, history and customs, all of which the Toba-ye artist illustrated. It is also necessary to remember the art axiom that in naturalistic drawing accuracy of proportion and beauty of line are properly sacrificed to the appearance of life. From the time of Toba Sōjō to the days of Hokusai and Kyōsai, the Japanese humorous painter always recognised that his first duty was to give the character—the burlesque, laughter-provoking character—of the objects he depicted, and that if he succeeded in conveying a strong and immediate impression of that character, his purpose was accomplished even though his lines were classically incorrect. In short, his work forcibly illustrates the principle that whereas line in classic drawing is generally attained at the expense of life, life in naturalistic drawing is often attained at the expense of line.

The Chinese influence, which, from the end of the tenth century, had gradually become faint almost to total disappearance in the realm of Japanese secular painting, was revived, at the close of the fourteenth, by a priest named Josetsu, whose inspiration came from the masterpieces of the Sung and Yuan artists. Josetsu is said to have been of Chinese origin. There are some close students who deny to him the title of having led the Chinese renaissance in Japan. They claim that honour equally for another naturalized Chinese artist, Shōga Shiubun, and for a predecessor of both, Nen Kawo. Neglecting these questions, we pass to the broad fact that the style of painting thus introduced found its chief expression in monochromatic, or lightly coloured, landscapes of great delicacy, naturalness, and beauty, and in wonderfully life-like, vigorous sketches of birds, from the saucy sparrow to the stately crane. It is characteristic of this school, which has had numerous representatives in every era since its foundation by the immigrant monks of Kyoto, that its motives, like its style, are exotic. Until modern times, the Japanese always loved to derive examples of chivalry, of statesmanship, of warlike prowess, of philosophy, of filial piety, of feudal devotion, and of legendry folk-lore from the annals of the Middle Kingdom. Hence the artists of the fourteenth-century renaissance, and their followers in every era, chose Chinese motives for their pictures, and instead of