The beauty of Japanese water

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This user gallery has been created by an independent third party and may not represent the views of the institutions whose collections include the featured works or of Google Arts & Culture.

This exhibition explores the beauty and power that the ocean holds by looking at various Japanese paintings of seascapes and body's of water. I chose painting with very little villages or people in them to keep the beauty of the water and its surroundings intact. - Jonathan Dejarnette

Hokusai's The Great Wave, 1831/1831, From the collection of: British Museum
This painting shows a massive wave that is about to smash into 2 small boats caught in the raging sea. The water in this piece is extremely detailed. The artist made sure that you can see every ripple of the angry sea and the crest of the wave is particularly interesting as the crest has what looks like miniature claws to show the anger of the wave.
Seascape, Artist: Yoshida Hiroshi, ca. 1900, From the collection of: Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art
In this painting you see 2 fishing boats parked on the beach as the occupants of the boats prepare for a day of fishing. In the background is calm seas and clear sky's. The artist buts great detail into the beach making sure you can see the change in color from wet sand and dry sand and once again makes sure you able to see every wave in the water. The artist also uses very precise brush strokes in order to capture every detail in the boats and it passengers.
Seascape with boat, Unknown, 19th century, From the collection of: Los Angeles County Museum of Art
In this drawing you can see a ship sailing across the water to a port were there ships are already gathered. The ship is sailing across a coastline that extends back into a forest and in the middle is a building were people are going and coming to. One feature that strikes me as impressive is the trees. Though they are not extremely detailed the artist gives them there own unique look that makes it look like the artist has put a lot of detail into them.
Kujukushima island, Shimabara, from the series Selection of scenes of Japan, Artist: Kawase Hasui, Publisher: S. Watanabe Color Print Co., 1922, From the collection of: Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art
In this painting the focus is on the island with the traditional Japanese structure on it around this island there are smaller island 2 men in a boat and a large cloud formation. It appears to be sunrise and the cloud formation can be seen reflecting into the water. If you look closely you can see that artist brush strokes are running side to side to help give the water its reflectiveness so the could formation in the water looks as natural as possible. You can also seethe a lot of different colors went into this work to bring it to life.
Itsukushima shrine, from the series Views of Famous Sites of Japan, Artist: Kobayashi Kiyochika, Publisher: Matsuki Heikichi, 1896, From the collection of: Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art
In this painting you see a Japanese harbor and village. You can see some boats passing by and a structure standing in the water with a boat near the structure. You can see that the artist does not add a clear definition of the beach. He leaves what is supposed to be the beach the same color as the paper and goes to a lighter blue for the water showing that the water is getting shallow.
Hakozaki, Chikuzen, from the series Selection of scenes of Japan, Artist: Kawase Hasui, Publisher: S. Watanabe Color Print Co., 1922, From the collection of: Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art
In this painting you can see a Japanese statue and next to it is a mother and child walking. Behind the mother and child is a calm body of water with a few boats at sail. You can see behind the boats are hills covered in either grass or trees. The artist doesn't add much detail to the mother and child but keeps the focus on the statue and the water behind it. The artist has added reflections into the water uses to shades of blue to give the water the slick look of water at rest.
Oyashirazu beach, from the series Views of Famous Sites of Japan, Artist: Kobayashi Kiyochika, Publisher: Matsuki Heikichi, 1897, From the collection of: Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art
In this painting you can see a cliffside that leads to a beach with waves crashing against the rocks. A man and child can be seen walking next to the cliff and another person standing on rocks in the distance. The artist adds a variety of colors to the cliffside showing the change between sand, dirt, and rock. And did the same for the beach. The artist also uses a simpler way to show activity in the water. A simple squiggly line shows this activity.
Matsushima, Kobayashi Kiyochika, 11/1/1896, From the collection of: Los Angeles County Museum of Art
In this painting you can see a few ships navigating a channel littered with rock formations. On top of the rock formations is gras and trees. you can also see that the rock formations have a shore line made of rocks with a few trees on them. The artist created each rock formation with its only significant details. You are able to see how sharp the rocks are as the artist added a kind of point to places were the rocks are sticking out.
Two prints: Meisan Nori - Shinagawa Sakuragaike no Koji Fukuroi, Artist: Utagawa Hiroshige, -1/1, From the collection of: Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art
In this painting there are 2 windows showing to sides to the ocean. On the left you can see people harvesting resources from the water near some reids showing that the ocean can provide. And on the right you see a wave cresting and getting ready to crash down. Showing that the water can also take. The detail and color in the water for both are very different. On the left there is only a selected place were the water ripples are defined and is a deep blue. And on the right the wave is very detailed showing the crest and the wave starting to break. Also there is a mix of deep blue and a lighter blue
Maisaka station, from Fifty-three Stations Along the Tokaido (Tokaido Gojusan-tsugi), Artist: Utagawa Hiroshige, Publisher: Tsutaya Juzaburo, 1855, From the collection of: Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art
In this painting you can see lots of ships coming in and out of what looks to be a channel navigating around island that have trees and grass on them one of them being made of rocks. There is some kind of barrier made of wood almost like a fence in the water. The artist use 4 shades of blue for the water. From a light blue to a white and goes back to a lighter blue and finally a dark blue. This artist also only shows water activity in certain areas with lines all focused around the boats.
Credits: All media
This user gallery has been created by an independent third party and may not represent the views of the institutions whose collections include the featured works or of Google Arts & Culture.
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