An Analysis of the Status of Japanese Zen Art Aesthetics in Ukiyo-e from Katsushika Hokusai to Van Gogh

Yuxi Yi

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ajad.20230801.12

| Peer-Reviewed

An Analysis of the Status of Japanese Zen Art Aesthetics in Ukiyo-e from Katsushika Hokusai to Van Gogh

Yuxi Yi

Published in American Journal of Art and Design (Volume 8, Issue 1)

Received: 29 December 2022 Accepted: 16 January 2023 Published: 6 February 2023

Views: Downloads:

Download PDF

Share This Article

Twitter
Linked In
Facebook

Abstract

Japanese Zen aesthetics extends empty aesthetics to non-literature and art, using painting as an art form to express the unique Japanese aesthetics and the embodiment of Japanese Zen aesthetics in the artist's life experience. By combining traditional Japanese aesthetics with Zen aesthetics, the creators of Ukiyo-e have a god-like perspective that allows them to see everything in the world. The integration of Japanese Zen culture with Chinese Zen, history, and art directly influenced the development of Japanese Ukiyo-e art. This influence, and even a deep monopoly, has influenced the work of two hundred and sixty years of Ukiyo-e artists, from content to effects. These even affected the western art field across the ocean; for example, Van Gogh was keen on such an expression with the concepts of "mono no aware", "wabi-sabi", and "yugen". Through the development history of Ukiyo-e and the specific analysis of Katsushika Hokusai's Ukiyo-e paintings and his influences on Van Gogh, this paper has a detailed understanding, that is to say, all signs indicate the inestimable role of Japanese Zen aesthetics. In Ukiyo-e, the art of the Japanese Zen aesthetic appears in front of the world, along the following path: half-awake self-discipline, as in China's Song dynasty, painting white space aesthetics, thinking of extremely pure appeal, and harmony between man and nature, man and man, and nature and nature.

Published in	American Journal of Art and Design (Volume 8, Issue 1)
DOI	10.11648/j.ajad.20230801.12
Page(s)	12-17
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Ukiyo-e, Zen, Aesthetics, Hokusai

References

[1]	Pérez-Arantegui, J., Rupérez, D., Almazán, D., & Díez-de-Pinos, N. (2018). Colours and pigments in late ukiyo-e art works: A preliminary non-invasive study of Japanese woodblock prints to interpret hyperspectral images using in-situ point-by-point diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. Microchemical Journal, 139, 94.
[2]	Lee, K. H., Lee, S. R., & Byun, J. Y. (2010). The Artistic Expression of European Paintings of the $19^{th} $ Century and Kosode Design in Edo Era, Focusing on the Influence of Ukiyo-e. Journal of the Korean Society of Costume, 60 (4), 76.
[3]	Liang, K. (2020). Impact of Ukiyo-e on (my creative practice through) Van Gogh; Fragments of journey. Doctoral dissertation, Vilniaus dailės akademija, 4.
[4]	Munsterberg, H. (1963). Hasumi," Zen in Japanese Art"(Book Review). Journal of Asian Studies, 22 (2), 217.
[5]	Nasri, A. (2011). The Reflection of Landscape in Ukiyo-e. Naghish Mayeh, 3 (6), 29.
[6]	Nasri, A. (2011). The Reflection of Landscape in Ukiyo-e. Naghish Mayeh, 3 (6), 31.
[7]	Davis, J. N. (2015). Introduction: The Floating World and Its Artistic Networks. In Partners in Print: Artistic Collaboration and the Ukiyo-e Market (pp. 1–19). University of Hawai’i Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt13x1jkj.5
[8]	Holmes, C. (1901). Hokusai. New York (State): Longmans Green, 42.
[9]	Holmes, C. (1901). Hokusai. New York (State): Longmans Green, 85.
[10]	Guth, C. M. E. (2011). Hokusai’s Great Waves in Nineteenth-Century Japanese Visual Culture. The Art Bulletin, 93 (4), 468–485. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23208270
[11]	Windsor, Ben. (2018). Making Waves: Hokusai and the creation of modern Japan. International Socialism. http://isj.org.uk/making-waves/
[12]	Holmes, C. (1901). Hokusai. New York (State): Longmans Green, 83.
[13]	Nasri, A. (2011). The Reflection of Landscape in Ukiyo-e. Naghish Mayeh, 3 (6), 33-36.
[14]	Double Diamond Corp. (1991). Japanese prints [videorecording]: Ukiyo-e, the floating world. Morris Plains, N. J.: Lucerne Media.
[15]	Forrer, M. (1990). Hokusai [Review of Hokusai: One Hundred Poets, by p. Morse]. Print Quarterly, 7 (2), 193–196. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41824569
[16]	Wu, Qiying. (2021). This is Ukiyo-e: the Oriental art that influenced the world. Chemical Industry Press.
[17]	Walker, J. A. (2008). Van Gogh, Collector of “Japan.” The Comparatist, 32, 82–114. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26237180
[18]	Bailey, Martin. (2018). How Van Gogh’s Starry Night was inspired by Houkusai’s Great Wave. The Art Newspaper.
[19]	Kim won-ho. (2017). Golden staccato -- Appreciation of Van Gogh's last work Rye Crows. Beauty and the Age: Journal of Fine Arts (Middle) (1), 2.
[20]	Zhang Lei. (2018). Is he really crazy? -- Analysis of Van Gogh's state during his lifetime based on the creation of Rye Crows. Chinese Character Culture (21), 2.
[21]	Letter 620 Br. 1990: 623 \| CL: 500 From: Vincent van Gogh To: Theo van Gogh, Date: Arles, on or about Tuesday, 5 June 1888, Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, inv. no. b541 V/1962, http://vangoghletters.org/vg/letters/let620/letter.html accessed June 20, 2018.
[22]	Chen Yuanwu. (2013). Wheat fields where crows fly. Literature: Original Edition (7), 4.
[23]	David Raymond Bell. (2018). Conformity and Invention: Learning and Creative Practice in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Japanese Visual Arts. The Journal of Aesthetic Education, 52 (1), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.5406/jaesteduc.52.1.0001
[24]	Liang, K. (2020). Impact of Ukiyo-e on (my creative practice through) Van Gogh; Fragments of journey. Doctoral dissertation, Vilniaus dailės akademija, 1-44.

Cite This Article

Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Yuxi Yi. (2023). An Analysis of the Status of Japanese Zen Art Aesthetics in Ukiyo-e from Katsushika Hokusai to Van Gogh. American Journal of Art and Design, 8(1), 12-17. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajad.20230801.12

Copy | Download

ACS Style

Yuxi Yi. An Analysis of the Status of Japanese Zen Art Aesthetics in Ukiyo-e from Katsushika Hokusai to Van Gogh. Am. J. Art Des. 2023, 8(1), 12-17. doi: 10.11648/j.ajad.20230801.12

Copy | Download

AMA Style

Yuxi Yi. An Analysis of the Status of Japanese Zen Art Aesthetics in Ukiyo-e from Katsushika Hokusai to Van Gogh. Am J Art Des. 2023;8(1):12-17. doi: 10.11648/j.ajad.20230801.12

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ajad.20230801.12,
  author = {Yuxi Yi},
  title = {An Analysis of the Status of Japanese Zen Art Aesthetics in Ukiyo-e from Katsushika Hokusai to Van Gogh},
  journal = {American Journal of Art and Design},
  volume = {8},
  number = {1},
  pages = {12-17},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajad.20230801.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajad.20230801.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajad.20230801.12},
  abstract = {Japanese Zen aesthetics extends empty aesthetics to non-literature and art, using painting as an art form to express the unique Japanese aesthetics and the embodiment of Japanese Zen aesthetics in the artist's life experience. By combining traditional Japanese aesthetics with Zen aesthetics, the creators of Ukiyo-e have a god-like perspective that allows them to see everything in the world. The integration of Japanese Zen culture with Chinese Zen, history, and art directly influenced the development of Japanese Ukiyo-e art. This influence, and even a deep monopoly, has influenced the work of two hundred and sixty years of Ukiyo-e artists, from content to effects. These even affected the western art field across the ocean; for example, Van Gogh was keen on such an expression with the concepts of "mono no aware", "wabi-sabi", and "yugen". Through the development history of Ukiyo-e and the specific analysis of Katsushika Hokusai's Ukiyo-e paintings and his influences on Van Gogh, this paper has a detailed understanding, that is to say, all signs indicate the inestimable role of Japanese Zen aesthetics. In Ukiyo-e, the art of the Japanese Zen aesthetic appears in front of the world, along the following path: half-awake self-discipline, as in China's Song dynasty, painting white space aesthetics, thinking of extremely pure appeal, and harmony between man and nature, man and man, and nature and nature.},
 year = {2023}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - An Analysis of the Status of Japanese Zen Art Aesthetics in Ukiyo-e from Katsushika Hokusai to Van Gogh
AU  - Yuxi Yi
Y1  - 2023/02/06
PY  - 2023
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajad.20230801.12
DO  - 10.11648/j.ajad.20230801.12
T2  - American Journal of Art and Design
JF  - American Journal of Art and Design
JO  - American Journal of Art and Design
SP  - 12
EP  - 17
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2578-7802
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajad.20230801.12
AB  - Japanese Zen aesthetics extends empty aesthetics to non-literature and art, using painting as an art form to express the unique Japanese aesthetics and the embodiment of Japanese Zen aesthetics in the artist's life experience. By combining traditional Japanese aesthetics with Zen aesthetics, the creators of Ukiyo-e have a god-like perspective that allows them to see everything in the world. The integration of Japanese Zen culture with Chinese Zen, history, and art directly influenced the development of Japanese Ukiyo-e art. This influence, and even a deep monopoly, has influenced the work of two hundred and sixty years of Ukiyo-e artists, from content to effects. These even affected the western art field across the ocean; for example, Van Gogh was keen on such an expression with the concepts of "mono no aware", "wabi-sabi", and "yugen". Through the development history of Ukiyo-e and the specific analysis of Katsushika Hokusai's Ukiyo-e paintings and his influences on Van Gogh, this paper has a detailed understanding, that is to say, all signs indicate the inestimable role of Japanese Zen aesthetics. In Ukiyo-e, the art of the Japanese Zen aesthetic appears in front of the world, along the following path: half-awake self-discipline, as in China's Song dynasty, painting white space aesthetics, thinking of extremely pure appeal, and harmony between man and nature, man and man, and nature and nature.
VL  - 8
IS  - 1
ER  -

Copy | Download

Author Information

Yuxi Yi

School of Philosophy, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

Download PDF

Sections

Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Yuxi Yi. (2023). An Analysis of the Status of Japanese Zen Art Aesthetics in Ukiyo-e from Katsushika Hokusai to Van Gogh. American Journal of Art and Design, 8(1), 12-17. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajad.20230801.12

Copy | Download

ACS Style

Yuxi Yi. An Analysis of the Status of Japanese Zen Art Aesthetics in Ukiyo-e from Katsushika Hokusai to Van Gogh. Am. J. Art Des. 2023, 8(1), 12-17. doi: 10.11648/j.ajad.20230801.12

Copy | Download

AMA Style

Yuxi Yi. An Analysis of the Status of Japanese Zen Art Aesthetics in Ukiyo-e from Katsushika Hokusai to Van Gogh. Am J Art Des. 2023;8(1):12-17. doi: 10.11648/j.ajad.20230801.12

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ajad.20230801.12,
  author = {Yuxi Yi},
  title = {An Analysis of the Status of Japanese Zen Art Aesthetics in Ukiyo-e from Katsushika Hokusai to Van Gogh},
  journal = {American Journal of Art and Design},
  volume = {8},
  number = {1},
  pages = {12-17},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajad.20230801.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajad.20230801.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajad.20230801.12},
  abstract = {Japanese Zen aesthetics extends empty aesthetics to non-literature and art, using painting as an art form to express the unique Japanese aesthetics and the embodiment of Japanese Zen aesthetics in the artist's life experience. By combining traditional Japanese aesthetics with Zen aesthetics, the creators of Ukiyo-e have a god-like perspective that allows them to see everything in the world. The integration of Japanese Zen culture with Chinese Zen, history, and art directly influenced the development of Japanese Ukiyo-e art. This influence, and even a deep monopoly, has influenced the work of two hundred and sixty years of Ukiyo-e artists, from content to effects. These even affected the western art field across the ocean; for example, Van Gogh was keen on such an expression with the concepts of "mono no aware", "wabi-sabi", and "yugen". Through the development history of Ukiyo-e and the specific analysis of Katsushika Hokusai's Ukiyo-e paintings and his influences on Van Gogh, this paper has a detailed understanding, that is to say, all signs indicate the inestimable role of Japanese Zen aesthetics. In Ukiyo-e, the art of the Japanese Zen aesthetic appears in front of the world, along the following path: half-awake self-discipline, as in China's Song dynasty, painting white space aesthetics, thinking of extremely pure appeal, and harmony between man and nature, man and man, and nature and nature.},
 year = {2023}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - An Analysis of the Status of Japanese Zen Art Aesthetics in Ukiyo-e from Katsushika Hokusai to Van Gogh
AU  - Yuxi Yi
Y1  - 2023/02/06
PY  - 2023
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajad.20230801.12
DO  - 10.11648/j.ajad.20230801.12
T2  - American Journal of Art and Design
JF  - American Journal of Art and Design
JO  - American Journal of Art and Design
SP  - 12
EP  - 17
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2578-7802
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajad.20230801.12
AB  - Japanese Zen aesthetics extends empty aesthetics to non-literature and art, using painting as an art form to express the unique Japanese aesthetics and the embodiment of Japanese Zen aesthetics in the artist's life experience. By combining traditional Japanese aesthetics with Zen aesthetics, the creators of Ukiyo-e have a god-like perspective that allows them to see everything in the world. The integration of Japanese Zen culture with Chinese Zen, history, and art directly influenced the development of Japanese Ukiyo-e art. This influence, and even a deep monopoly, has influenced the work of two hundred and sixty years of Ukiyo-e artists, from content to effects. These even affected the western art field across the ocean; for example, Van Gogh was keen on such an expression with the concepts of "mono no aware", "wabi-sabi", and "yugen". Through the development history of Ukiyo-e and the specific analysis of Katsushika Hokusai's Ukiyo-e paintings and his influences on Van Gogh, this paper has a detailed understanding, that is to say, all signs indicate the inestimable role of Japanese Zen aesthetics. In Ukiyo-e, the art of the Japanese Zen aesthetic appears in front of the world, along the following path: half-awake self-discipline, as in China's Song dynasty, painting white space aesthetics, thinking of extremely pure appeal, and harmony between man and nature, man and man, and nature and nature.
VL  - 8
IS  - 1
ER  -

Copy | Download