Asian art: history, forms, and cultural significance

Art

India:

Unknown artist. Unknown date. This is a painting of Vedic art, depicting Krishna eating lunch with his friends. It was commissioned for an Indian monastery. Culturally, this form of art depicts a story from the life of Krishna. Krishna is usually depicted as an adult, so this is somewhat unusual, but in this case as a child from folklore. The story would probably be well-known to the audience at the monastery.

http://dominiqueamendola.com/painting/krishna-eats-lunch-his-friends-oil-painting-figures-painting-indian-vedic-art-classical-rea

Artist: Rabi Behera. Date: Unknown. This is a modern interpretation of folk art from Orissa, depicting Hanuman as Eleventh Rudra. Hanuman here has five heads. In this incarnation, Hanuman battles Ravana, an antagonist in the Ramayana who sought to overpower the gods. This story is well-known as part of the Indian national epic the Ramayana.

Source: http://www.exoticindiaart.com/product/paintings/five-headed-hanuman-as-eleventh-rudra-PP88/

Korea:

Artist: Unknown Date: 18th century

This landscape is traditional in Korean art. Nature is considered sacred in Korean culture, and therefore landscapes are/were very popular in Korea. The sacredness of nature was relevant to humankind because being in nature was a way for people to improve their spirituality. It was culturally important, then, for people to depict nature and art and there would have been a strong market for paintings like this in 18th-century Korea.

Source: http://asiasociety.org/countries/traditions/religious-influence-korean-art

Artist: Unknown. Date: 19th century

This panel is titled Ten symbols of longevity, which lends context to the Korean love of nature in art. Rather than a traditional landscape, this piece showcases symbols of longevity, which have strong meaning in Korean culture. This type of art would have been in people's homes, for example, perhaps commissioned as a gift. The good tidings not only include longevity signs, but also love/marriage symbolism as well.

Source: http://www.theartwolf.com/exhibitions/korean-dreams-australia.htm

China

Artist: Fu Baoshi

Date: 1950

This classical landscape highlights the reverence for nature, which has strong spirituality in Chinese culture. The people are central, but small, highlighting that man is part of nature, but also dwarfed by it. That this is a winter or autumn scene does nothing to diminish the beauty of nature, providing a sense of nature's power.

Source: http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2F7junipers.com%2Flog%2Fcategory%2Fregions%2Fchina%2Fpage%2F2%2F&h=0&w=0&tbnid=ZGybUevNrwi6-M&tbnh=203&tbnw=248&zoom=1&docid=ugQfi9lvrkHToM&ei=iFMfU6GKBc6JogTwzYKIBA&ved=0CAIQsCUoAA

Artist: Unknown Date: 1967

This is a different take on Chinese art, a propaganda poster. The art is rich in Communist iconography, which stylistically is European, but in this case it is applied to a Chinese message and cultural context. 1967 was the heart of the Cultural Revolution, and this poster, where bears the caption "destroy the old world, forge the new world" enforces the message -- with a sledgehammer -- central to that theme. Interesting to note that there is a much greater visual emphasis on the "destroy" part than the "forge the new world" part.

Source: http://marktanner.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/china-art-culture-propogand.jpg

Japan:

Artist: Katsuhika Hokusai

Date: 1829-1832

This was a piece from a series called 36 views of Fuji, and indeed Fuji-san is in the background here. The Great Wave bears with it European influences, which made it different in a time when Japan was cut off from the rest of the world. The boats show how nature dwarfs man, but there is something interesting in the way that the wave dwarfs the distant Fuji as well, given how powerful a symbol Fuji is to the Japanese.