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FINE ARTS (JAPANESE)

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FINE ARTS (CHINESE)

recognized by those of higher rank. In fact, they seem to have chosen such subjects as would be appreciated by those who had not the means to purchase the examples of higher art. These prints, some of which now are sold in Europe and America for several hundred dollars, cost only a few pennies in the streets of Tokio at the time they were printed. Aside from the wonderful technique, their marvelous design and harmonious color have been the source of inspiration to more than one western artist, among whom we may mention Whistler and Monet.

There were three persons who were concerned in the production of a Japanese print. They were the artist, the engraver and the printer. The artist drew the design on thin transparent paper in outline, indicating by notes what colors were to be used and where they were to be placed. These outline-drawings were then turned over to the engraver, who pasted them facedown on blocks of cherry-wood, which was always cut with the grain. With a very simple set of knives, chisels and gouges he cuts around these lines and chips out the wood between them, until only the lines of the artist's brush are left as high as the surface of the block. Several prints are made from this line-block on transparent paper, which in turn are pasted face-down on other pieces of wood, from which are engraved blocks for each color which is to be printed. These various blocks are then turned over to the printer, who mixes his vegetable color with a thick rice-paste, and applies it to the block. Without moving the block on which he has spread his colors, he appli^ a, moistened piece of paper, which he pats down on the colored block until it has absorbed all the color. This process is repeated until all the colors indicated in the artist's sketch are printed.

Wood-block printing in black and white had been practiced in China for many centuries in the printing of the text and in the illustration of books, and it was in that way that it was first used in Japan. In the earlier stages of the art color-pictures were printed in outline and then colored by hand. Gradually the process became perfected, until it was possible to print most delicate and intricate designs and get any desired effect. The great works in Japanese color-printing were nearly all produced between about 1680 and "1850, since which time the art has been in its decline.

A few of the great print-artists in chronological order are Hishikawa Moronobu, Suzuki Harunobu, Katsukawa Shunsho, Torii Kiyonaga, Utamaro, Utagawa Toyo-kuni, flokusai, Shunsen, Kunisada and Hiroshige. The most universal genius of them all, no doubt, was Hokusai, who at once was a painter, designer and print-artist. He, more than any of the other of

these craftsmen, is recognized by his countrymen, who, however, never could quite forgive him for the vulgarity of the subjects he chose to paint. Hiroshige is famous for his landscapes. Excepting Hokusai, he was the only one of the print-artists who treated the landscape in any other way than as an accessory for their figures. See E. F. Strange: Japanese Illustration and William Anderson: [Japanese Wood-Engraving.

Chinese Painting. Chinese pictorial art, when compared with that of Egypt, is modern, whereas in relation to Japanese painting it is quite ancient. There seems to be no trace of any native Chinese art of this kind previous to the time of the introduction of Buddhism into China, whither it came from India during the reign of Emperor Ming in 62 A. D. There are records, between that time and the seventh century, of paintings of dragons and of Buddhist gods and goddesses that were made for the decoration of temples. In the eighth century there were two famous painters who were employed to do some decorative work for the government. The Sung dynasty between 960 and 1206 had many painters, among whom were Li Lung-yen (or Ri-riu-min as the Japanese know him) and Ngan Hwui (or Ganku in Japanese). The former was famous for his Buddhist pictures, his drawings of landscapes, horses and the figure. He is represented in the British Museum by a painting called The Nirvana of Sakyamuni. The latter was known as the last of the great masters who so strongly influenced Japanese painting. The Yuen dynasty between 1206 and 1450 had some noted painters of horses, tigers and birds, the most famous of which perhaps, was Chao Meng-fu whom the Japanese call Cho-su-go. The Ming dynasty between 1450 and 1628, like the Yuen, shows almost an absence of religious paintings, but many landscapes, birds, flowers, animals and figures.

In China, painting was a direct outgrowth of writing. For centuries the greatest admiration was felt for the ability to write beautifully; and to write Chinese is to be able to control the brush to a degree that is impossible to an occidental. In learning to write, the Chinese learn to master the mechanical part of the painter's art, and it only remains for him to draw objects instead of the characters of writing.

The Chinese painter cares little about representing things as they look in the truth of light and shade, perspective, etc., but tested his work by the character, directness and vigor of the lines used. There were three ways of painting: by the use of line alone; by the use of line and mass in monochrome; and by the combination of line and color. The Chinese painted both on paper and on silk, on which they used either ink or an opaque