A brief introduction to Asian Art

1. Indian, Chinese &
Japanese
653 B.C. – A.D. 1900

2. Major Points
Birth of Buddha
Silk Road opens
Buddhism spreads to China and Japan
Art is serene, and meditative

3. Indian Art
3rd millennium BC – Modern
Times
4 Periods (Ancient period, Islamic
ascendancy, Colonial period,
Independence and postcolonial)
Ornate, sensuous, refined, strong
sense of design, colorful, vibrant
and tells a story
Intertwines with cultural history,
religions, and philosophies
Fresco from Ajanta, c.
450-500

4. Past Art
Ajanta & Ellora frescoes and
rock cuts 2 BC – 600 B

5. Mughal
Influence
Descendants of Genghis
Khan, Muslim
Ruled over Indian
subcontinent (southern
Asia)
Mughal minitures, book
illustrations or small
album works
Architecture & Marble
http://www.economist.co
m/blogs/prospero/2011/11
/singh-twins

6. Taj
Mahal
Seven Wonders of
the World
Mausoleum:
building
constructed as a
monument
enclosing the
burial chamber of
a deceased
person or persons
Completed in 1653

8. Rajputana
Mostly men painters
Focus on nature & harmony
Many miniatures, BRIGHT
where as Mughals were dull.
Lord Krishna, Hindu deity
popular subject
Rajputana people endured
much to stay in existence (as
well as Hinduism) through the
times of Muhammed and the
British takeover as many of
them gave up art due to lack
of understanding on the part
of the British.

9. Modern Indian Art
Focus on ancient culture
M F Hussein, Picasso of
India
Museums emerged late
60’s
Indian art in high demand
worldwide and sold for
high prices, encouraged
by government

10. Chinese Art
Successfully mastered ALL forms of
art
Ancient art included cave
paintings, pottery, jade
artifacts, bronze casting (Bronze
Age) and calligraphy

11. Chinese Art Continued
After the Iron Age
pottery and
porcelain were
focus, Terra Cotta
Army
With the invention
of paper over a
dozen dynasties
(time of rule by a
particular family
which ruled during
that period)
Within these

12. Chinese
Painting
Strong tradition of
painting, calligraphy,
and printmaking
Spring Morning in the Han Palace, Ming
Dynasty
Concentrated in water
based techniques
More stylized & abstract
Importance of white
space and favors
landscapes
Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival, Northern

13. Contemporary Chinese Art
After communists took over in 1949 art was
labeled reactionary (politically driven) further
accelerated by Cultural Revolution (Social-
political movement whose goal was to enforce
communism)
Chinese “avant-garde” works produced after
CR, includes
painting, sculpture, film, ceramics, video, photogr
aphy, installation and performance.
In the 2008 World’s Top contemporary
artists, The People’s Republic of China holds it’s
5th, 6th, 7th and 9th places.

14. Zhang Zeng Fanzhi Yue Minjun
Xiaogang
Wang
Guangyi

15. Japanese Art
Wide range of art styles & media including
ancient pottery, sculpture in wood & bronze, ink
painting on silk and paper and recently manga &
cartooning. Painting is the preferred method of
the Japanese.
Write with a brush rather than a pen
Japanese ceramics are the finest in the world
and the earliest known artifacts of their culture.
Heavy use of natural materials for architecture
and a relationship between interior and exterior
spaces

16. Ukiyo-e
“Floating world”
Japanese woodblock prints The Great Wave off
Kanagawa (神奈川
Landscapes, historical tales, & theatre 沖浪裏 Kanagawa-
oki nami-ura?)
Main artistic genre in Japan original print by
Hokusai
Rose in the Edo cultural second half of the 17th century
Mass producable

17. Influence of
Buddha
Starts in 6th & 7th centuries
Home of the earliest Pagoda and Kondō at Hōryū-ji, 8th
Buddhists structures century
Statues and icons brought
to Japan by Koreans
Temples
Enku, Buddhist monk
sculpted 120,000 wooden
statues

18. Contemporary Art
Taikan Yokoyama Kiyoteru Kuroda

19. History of Manga