Day 89 - Boys' Day banner
September 17, 2018
With gallery 223, I enter the Japanese collection and immediately realize how extraordinarily little I know about Japanese history and culture, so much so that when I see a recognizably Buddhist sculpture and other Buddhist images, they seem like old friends. In particular, I know almost nothing about Shintoism -- whose importance in Japanese art seems beyond dispute, even from the few objects in this introductory gallery, although it seems to be guided by a belief in animism, with gods present in such natural phenomena as waterfalls and mountains.
I'm intrigued by two scroll paintings from the 18 and 19th centuries that depict a legendary third-century woman warrior empress named Jingu. In both images she appears in white robes that don't look particularly womanly; she holds a large bow and has a quiver of arrows slung over her back. Given the submissiveness we associate with women's roles in ancient (and even modern) Japan, it is interesting to see this figure, who, according to legend, led a military campaign into Korea. A caption describes her as an example of the "onna-bugeisha," women who fought beside men in battle. But I don't know whether these figures were mythical or whether they really existed in history.
Another striking work is an early 19th century wooden sculpture of a fierce Buddhist protective deity wielding what appears to be a short sword or a flat cudgel. The sculpture is full of a raw energy, and it's not surprising to learn that it was made by an amateur artist inspired by strong religious devotion. I'm a little surprised to see such a sculpture in the Met's collection, but then I read that the sculptor made thousands of such figures, which makes it less surprising that one ended up here.
In a gallery where there are so many unfamiliar images, the one that strikes me as most unusual is a hanging scroll painted by a popular painter named Kawanabe Kyosai during the Early Meiji period (around 1868) of a Boys' Day carp streamer and banner. Boys' Day, which took place on the fifth day of the fifth month (a lunar calendar?) was an occasion for families to display streamers showing carp and images of Shoki, a figure (a storybook figure? a Shinto god?) who conquers demons and protects against disease. In this painting, Shoki, painted in red, appears to be holdimg a small demon by the throat and preparing to stab its arm with his upraised sword. The blue carp in the middle of the painting, which is not much smaller in scale than Shoki, looks head-on at us rather stupidly. At the top of the image is a beautifully colored rooster with outspread wings; he symbolizes honesty and fortitude, according to the caption. The painting contains various other elements that appear more decorative to me, but for all I know, they have symbolic significance as well.
What a lesson in humility this gallery is. I am sure I have a great deal to learn about art from every period and of every genre, but it's truly humbling to confront the depth of my ignorance about such an important civilization.
I'm intrigued by two scroll paintings from the 18 and 19th centuries that depict a legendary third-century woman warrior empress named Jingu. In both images she appears in white robes that don't look particularly womanly; she holds a large bow and has a quiver of arrows slung over her back. Given the submissiveness we associate with women's roles in ancient (and even modern) Japan, it is interesting to see this figure, who, according to legend, led a military campaign into Korea. A caption describes her as an example of the "onna-bugeisha," women who fought beside men in battle. But I don't know whether these figures were mythical or whether they really existed in history.
Another striking work is an early 19th century wooden sculpture of a fierce Buddhist protective deity wielding what appears to be a short sword or a flat cudgel. The sculpture is full of a raw energy, and it's not surprising to learn that it was made by an amateur artist inspired by strong religious devotion. I'm a little surprised to see such a sculpture in the Met's collection, but then I read that the sculptor made thousands of such figures, which makes it less surprising that one ended up here.
In a gallery where there are so many unfamiliar images, the one that strikes me as most unusual is a hanging scroll painted by a popular painter named Kawanabe Kyosai during the Early Meiji period (around 1868) of a Boys' Day carp streamer and banner. Boys' Day, which took place on the fifth day of the fifth month (a lunar calendar?) was an occasion for families to display streamers showing carp and images of Shoki, a figure (a storybook figure? a Shinto god?) who conquers demons and protects against disease. In this painting, Shoki, painted in red, appears to be holdimg a small demon by the throat and preparing to stab its arm with his upraised sword. The blue carp in the middle of the painting, which is not much smaller in scale than Shoki, looks head-on at us rather stupidly. At the top of the image is a beautifully colored rooster with outspread wings; he symbolizes honesty and fortitude, according to the caption. The painting contains various other elements that appear more decorative to me, but for all I know, they have symbolic significance as well.
What a lesson in humility this gallery is. I am sure I have a great deal to learn about art from every period and of every genre, but it's truly humbling to confront the depth of my ignorance about such an important civilization.
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