| A History of Japanese Painting (Hon Cho Gashi), by Kano Eno. | |
|---|---|
| A Treasure Volume (bampo zen sho), by Ki Moto Ka Ho. | |
| The Painter's Convenient Reference (Goko Ben Ran), by Arai Haku Seki. | |
| A Collection of Celebrated Japanese Paintings (Ko Cho Meiga shu e), by Hiyama Gi Shin. | |
| Ideas on Design in Painting (To Ga Ko), by Saito Heko Maro. | |
| A Discourse on Japanese Painting (Honcho Gwa San), by Tani Buncho. | |
| Important Reflections on All Kinds of Painting (Gwa Jo Yo Ryaku), by Arai Kayo. | |
| A Treatise on Famous Japanese Paintings (Fu So Mei Gwa Den), by Hori Nao Kaku. | |
| Observations on Ancient Pictures (Ko Gwa Bi Ko), by Asa Oka Kotei. | |
| A Treatise on Famous Painters (Fu So Gwa Jin), by Ko Shitsu Ryo Chu. | |
| A Treatise on Japanese Painting (Yamato Nishiki Kem Bun Sho), by Kuro Kama Shun Son. | |
| A Treatise on the Laws of Painting (Gwafu), by Ran Sai, a pupil of Chinanpin. The work is voluminous and is both of great use and authority. | |
| Cho Chu Gwa Fu, by Chiku To. | |
| Sha Zan Gakugwa Hen, by Buncho. |
Translations of all these works into English are greatly to be desired.
There is much that has been sympathetically written and published about Japanese paintings both in Europe and America, but however laudatory, it might be all summed up under the title, “Impressions of an Outsider.” Such writings lack [pg 29] the authority which only constant labor in the field of practical art can confer. A Japanese artist, by which I mean a painter, is long in making. From ten to fifteen years of continuous study and application are required before much skill is attained. During that time he gradually absorbs a knowledge of the many principles, precepts, maxims and methods, which together constitute the corpus or body of art doctrine handed down from a remote antiquity and preserved either in books or perpetuated by tradition. Along with these are innumerable art secrets called hiji or himitsu, never published, but orally imparted by the masters to their pupils—not secrets in a trick sense, but methods of execution discovered after laborious effort and treasured as valued possessions. It is obvious, then, how incapable of writing technically upon the subject must anyone be who has not gone through such curriculum and had drilled into him all that varied instruction which makes up the body of rules applicable to that art.
I have read many seriously written appreciations of Japanese paintings published in various modern languages, and even some amiable imaginings penned for foreigners by Japanese who fancy they know by instinct what only can be acquired after long study and practice with brush in hand. All such writers are characterized in Japan by a very polite term, shiroto—which means amateur. It also has a secondary signification of emptiness.
CHAPTER THREE. LAWS FOR THE USE OF BRUSH AND MATERIALS
Upon a subject as technical as that of Japanese painting, to endeavor to impart correct information in a way that shall be both instructive and entertaining is an undertaking of no little difficulty. The rules and canons of any art when enumerated, classified and explained, are likely to prove trying, if not wearisome reading. Yet, if our object be to acquire accurate knowledge, we must consent to make some sacrifice to attain it, and there is no royal road to a knowledge of Japanese painting.
We have little or no opportunity in America, excepting in one or two cities, to see good specimens of the work of the great painters of Japan. Furthermore, such work in kakemono form is seen to much disadvantage when exhibited in numbers strung along the walls of a museum. Japanese kakemono (hanging paintings) are best viewed singly, suspended in the recess of the tokonoma, or alcove. A certain seclusion is essential to the [pg 31] enjoyment of their delicate and subtle effects; the surroundings should be suggestive of leisure and repose, which the Japanese word shidzuka, often employed in art language, well describes.