Animals in Japanese painting.
Scala| N° d'inventaire | 23302 |
| Format | 23.5 x 30.5 |
| Détails | 320 p., publisher's hardcover. |
| Publication | Lyon, 2020 |
| Etat | Nine |
| ISBN | 9782359882551 |
In Japanese painting, dragons, cranes, foxes, monkeys, tigers, and dragonflies wander or fly amidst lush vegetation, decorating illuminated scrolls, screens, and prints. From the smallest insect to the elephant, they also adorn temples, shrines, palaces, and gardens. Beyond their decorative or propitiatory function, these representations carry meanings. To understand and appreciate them, one must know the place of each animal in the culture, that is, in history, spirituality, literature, and daily life. This is why this book opens with two chapters, one devoted to the origins and meaning of symbolism, and the other to the metamorphoses of animals into humans, before unfolding some fifty portraits of imaginary, fantastical, or real animals among the most important in Japanese painting and culture. From the first animal representations, through the influence of Shintoism and then Buddhism, this work offers a new perspective on the representation of animals in Japanese art, particularly in painting, from the Middle Ages to contemporary art.
In Japanese painting, dragons, cranes, foxes, monkeys, tigers, and dragonflies wander or fly amidst lush vegetation, decorating illuminated scrolls, screens, and prints. From the smallest insect to the elephant, they also adorn temples, shrines, palaces, and gardens. Beyond their decorative or propitiatory function, these representations carry meanings. To understand and appreciate them, one must know the place of each animal in the culture, that is, in history, spirituality, literature, and daily life. This is why this book opens with two chapters, one devoted to the origins and meaning of symbolism, and the other to the metamorphoses of animals into humans, before unfolding some fifty portraits of imaginary, fantastical, or real animals among the most important in Japanese painting and culture. From the first animal representations, through the influence of Shintoism and then Buddhism, this work offers a new perspective on the representation of animals in Japanese art, particularly in painting, from the Middle Ages to contemporary art.