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The Edo period is considered a time of peace in Japan. The country has come to rest under the rule of the shoguns. The social structures have changed. New ways of thinking developed in the country and Japan lived largely self-sufficiently during this period. The influences of foreign cultures were kept to a minimum. Travelers from China brought books to Japan and told about life, art and culture in the neighboring country. This minimal influence gave rise to an art form that became particularly established in southern Japan and around the city of Kyoto. The painting of the Bunjinga school or the Nanga school developed from the Chinese literary painting. Probably the most famous artist of this form of painting was Ike no Taiga, who passed on the basic features of his painting to his students. Aoki Shukuya was one of the students of the studio. A trusting relationship developed between student and teacher, so Aoki assumed the position of his mentor in the studio.
In Chinese art, the painting of scholars or literati was detached from the academic influences of art schools. Academics and scholars painted small works in their spare time, which would later be given to friends. The artists had been self-taught throughout and found their motifs in nature. They were not concerned with the academic and technical mode of representation prescribed by the art schools. The literati wanted to paint what nature gave them. In doing so, they combined painting with poetry and calligraphy. The Japanese artists around the Bunjinga school acquired their knowledge of Chinese representations from books. They took what they had read and developed their own art form from the knowledge. Aoki Shukuya was a trained painter and adopted the spontaneous image design and typical Chinese coloring. Aoki's paintings are done in black ink, often monochrome and only rarely supplemented with bright colors. His landscapes clearly show the Chinese models. Small verses and characters accompany the impressions that Aoki Shukuya leaves behind. What is unclear is how they were created. While the Chinese literati only worked out their motifs from models, it could well be that Aoki's landscapes have a real model in nature.
The painting of Japanese literati focuses on painting landscapes, birds and flowers. Contrary to the original intention of their Chinese models, the prints of Aoki Shukuya and Ike no Taiga were offered for sale. The Japanese painters went the opposite way. They began with an artistic education and aimed to reach the status of literati. Each artist within this school of painting remained unique and went his individual way.
The Edo period is considered a time of peace in Japan. The country has come to rest under the rule of the shoguns. The social structures have changed. New ways of thinking developed in the country and Japan lived largely self-sufficiently during this period. The influences of foreign cultures were kept to a minimum. Travelers from China brought books to Japan and told about life, art and culture in the neighboring country. This minimal influence gave rise to an art form that became particularly established in southern Japan and around the city of Kyoto. The painting of the Bunjinga school or the Nanga school developed from the Chinese literary painting. Probably the most famous artist of this form of painting was Ike no Taiga, who passed on the basic features of his painting to his students. Aoki Shukuya was one of the students of the studio. A trusting relationship developed between student and teacher, so Aoki assumed the position of his mentor in the studio.
In Chinese art, the painting of scholars or literati was detached from the academic influences of art schools. Academics and scholars painted small works in their spare time, which would later be given to friends. The artists had been self-taught throughout and found their motifs in nature. They were not concerned with the academic and technical mode of representation prescribed by the art schools. The literati wanted to paint what nature gave them. In doing so, they combined painting with poetry and calligraphy. The Japanese artists around the Bunjinga school acquired their knowledge of Chinese representations from books. They took what they had read and developed their own art form from the knowledge. Aoki Shukuya was a trained painter and adopted the spontaneous image design and typical Chinese coloring. Aoki's paintings are done in black ink, often monochrome and only rarely supplemented with bright colors. His landscapes clearly show the Chinese models. Small verses and characters accompany the impressions that Aoki Shukuya leaves behind. What is unclear is how they were created. While the Chinese literati only worked out their motifs from models, it could well be that Aoki's landscapes have a real model in nature.
The painting of Japanese literati focuses on painting landscapes, birds and flowers. Contrary to the original intention of their Chinese models, the prints of Aoki Shukuya and Ike no Taiga were offered for sale. The Japanese painters went the opposite way. They began with an artistic education and aimed to reach the status of literati. Each artist within this school of painting remained unique and went his individual way.