Chinese ink painting

from Introduction to Chinese Ink Painting Chinese Ink Painting

• History: After Ancient Chinese Art
  • With the arrival of Buddhism, the art form and style changed
    • There was a flow from Greece to India to China, influenced by Buddhism (blu3mo)
  • Transition to the Tang and Buddhist Art period
  • Interestingly, during this period, sculpture and other forms of art were not considered “fine art”
    • The concept of “fine art” in the Western sense only emerged in the 19th century, when Buddhist statues and other forms of art were recognized as such
    • Oh, I see (blu3mo)
  • During this period, only painting was considered as fine art
• How did the style of painting evolve?
  • Blue-Green Landscape -> Ink Painting -> Literati Painting
    • The techniques and perspectives changed
    • There were times when the background was painted on top, creating a sense of depth
  • Focus on Ink Painting
    • The interesting way of depicting landscapes was developed first
      • First, ambiguous and smudgy traces were drawn with ink
      • Then, buildings and figures were added
        • This made the ambiguous traces appear as mountains
      • Fascinating (blu3mo)(blu3mo)
      • It’s called Abstract Expressionism
        • I like that type of abstract interpretation too (blu3mo)
    • It gradually shifted from the approach of depicting what is visible, like in Blue-Green Landscape
      • The Chinese artists gradually lost interest in outlines and colors, and embraced ink painting
  • It’s interesting to appreciate the artist’s life and thoughts through their brushstrokes and techniques
    • With ink painting, the focus is narrowed down, making this type of appreciation easier, I guess? (blu3mo)
      • Since there is no color choice involved
      • Or maybe this type of appreciation is not limited to ink painting?
• When Chinese paintings spread to other countries, they were often recreated in their own unique ways
  • For example, when painting arrived in Japan, they would trim it to fit in a tokonoma alcove
  • The composition choices made during that time were influenced by Japanese painting, which is interesting (blu3mo)