What is “Neo-Nihonga” by Hisashi Tenmyouya?
Japanese artist Hisashi Tenmyouya calls his style “Neo-Nihonga.” (Ninohga means traditional Japanese painting.) What does he mean by that? Here’s some excerpts from his interview with a Japanese magazine Art Full.
Hisashi Tenmyouya designed an official art poster for the FIFA World Cup Germany 2006
at the request of the Japanese Football Association.
Hisashi Tenmyouya: influence
Q: You often use subjects such as Japanese mythological deities, Buddha statues and the Japanese civil war era (end of 16th ~early 17th century) as part of your “Neo-nihonga.” Where did you get the inspiration from?
Tenmyouya: I came to know Kyosai Kawanabe (1831-1889) when I was 21 years old. He was a prolific Nihonga artist who worked on a wide range of styles and subjects including authentic traditional Japanese painting (the Kano School), ukiyoe, Buddhism paining, satires and mythologies. His works were full of defiance against the authority and mainstream, which resonated with me.
河鍋暁斎 Kyosai Kawanabe (1831-89)
花鳥図
幽霊図
横たわる美人と猫
三味線を弾く洋装の骸骨と踊る妖怪
暁斎百鬼画談
Kyosai Kawanabe started learning ukiyoe at the age of 7.
He was also trained as a traditional Japanese painter of the Kano school.
He was able to use different styles and was good at each of them.
When he was 40, he painted something when he was completely drunk.
For some reason it upset some law enforcement authorities. He was sent to jail.
Speaking of artists who were born at the end of Edo era (early -middle 19th century) like Kyosai Kawanabe, I also liked Hogai Kano’s vivid colors and fine lines.
狩野芳崖 Hogai Kano (1828-1888)
悲母観音
仁王捉鬼図
Hogai Kano is from the Kano school of traditional Japanese painting.
Ernest Fenollosa, an American scholar who was teaching in Japan
at the request of the Japanese government highly praised Kano
as the pioneer to “modernize” traditional Japanese panting.”
Hogai embraced some Western style and techniques
including the color and the use of perspectives.
Additionally, ukiyoe painter Yoshitoshi Tsukioka inspired me. His dynamic, almost overemphasizing style felt as if he was one of the earliest Japanese manga artists.
月岡芳年 Yoshitoshi Tsukioka (1839-1892)
藤原保昌月下弄笛図
魁題百撰相 / 森坊丸
大坂軍記之内
Tsukioka was a ukiyoe artist who remained popular even when
the ukiyoe industry was declining as Japan was modernizing.
While he made traditional style ukiyoe, he also made series of
ukiyoe that featured cruel, bloody events.
Author’s note:
The three artists Tenmyouji mentioned all lived in the same era: end of Edo period and Meiji. It was the time when Japan was going through a tectonic shift. It was trying to become a modern member of the international society from an isolated, pre-modern country. Art was also in the middle of fundamental transformation. Even though the three artists all belong to “traditional” Japanese art, they were also forced to change, or adapt to modernism. Each took unique approach, but it was defiantly the case that Western and modern style and way of life influenced their work.
In the next post, Tenmyouji discusses his philosophy.
