Bold and Dynamic Japanese Art Influencing the West

The beauty of Japanese Wood Block Prints displays beautiful linear work, bold patterns and energetic compositions.

Ito Shinsui (1898-1972) Washing the Hair, 1952

In a rectangular portrait format painting, we see a cropped image of a half-dressed woman washing her hair in a wooden tub.

The deep blue floral garment dominates the right-hand side, top to bottom. The left-hand side is filled with an undressed torso bending over to wash her long, flowing black hair in a round wood-staved tub of water that swirls and ripples the water’s surface. She supports herself with her left hand.

A simple mottled grey background softly contrasts with the subtle, delicate pink blush of unblemished skin. The off-white skin tone gives way to the white of her kimono that contrasts with the dark blue combinations of geometric shapes and patterns, floral motifs and lines, setting up a dynamic in opposition with the harmonious simplicity of unblemished skin with the fragile and delicate lines and pink blush of face and nipple that adds a sense of warm colour amongst the overall cooler blue tones.

Her delicately lined black hair with understated highlights contrasts with the light grey background and her porcelain skin. Within the two halves are lines, shapes, echoes, harmony and contrast that maintain the movement and lively activity. Strong line plays a part in the composition, delineating form, direction, dynamics and flow.

The beauty of Japanese art is the way compositions often express an expansion beyond the confines of the picture frame. Western art often brackets the image to confine the picture as a complete entity. The close-cropped right-hand side and bottom edge have lines and curves that direct beyond the frame’s edge. The truncated hands and water tub continue the openness, emphasising expansion rather than containment.

Western Art and Japanese art collided in the 19th century when Japan finally ended its isolation, and trading between the countries flourished. Both sides greatly benefited from the collision. The Tokyo School of Fine Arts set up a department of Western painting. Influences were strong on both East and West.

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