Nihonga
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{{for|the language|nihongo}}
{{nihongo|'''Nihonga'''|日本画|Nihonga}} or literally "Japanese-style paintings" is a term used to describe [[painting]]s that have been made in accordance with Japanese traditional artistic conventions, techniques and materials. While based on traditions over a thousand years old, the term was coined in the [[Meiji period]], to distinguish such works from Western-style paintings, or {{nihongo|'''[[Yoga (art)|Yōga]]'''|洋画|Yōga}}.
==Materials==
''Nihonga'' are typically executed on ''[[washi]]'' (Japanese paper) or [[silk]], using brushes. The paintings can be either monochrome or polychrome. If monochrome, typically ''[[sumi]]'' (Chinese ink) made from [[soot]] mixed with a glue from fishbone or animal hide is used. If polychrome, the pigments are derived from natural ingredients: minerals, shells, [[coral]]s, and even [[semi-precious stones]] like [[garnet]]s or [[pearl]]s. The raw materials are powdered into 10 gradations from fine to sand grain textures. [[Hide glue]] is used as fixative for these powdered pigments. In both cases, water is used; hence ''Nihonga'' is by definition a sub-genre of [[watercolor painting]].
Initially, ''Nihonga'' were produced for hanging scrolls (''[[kakemono]]''), hand scrolls (''[[emakimono]]'') or folding screens (''[[byōbu]]''). However, most are now made to be displayed in frames, similar to Western-style paintings.
==Techniques==
In monochrome ''Nihonga'', the technique depends on the modulation of ink tones from darker through lighter to obtain a variety of shadings from near white, through grey tones to black. In polychrome ''Nihonga'', great emphasis is placed on the presence or absence of outlines; typically outlines are not used for depictions of birds or plants. Occasionally, [[wash]]es and layering of pigments are used to provide contrasting effects, and even more occasionally, [[gold]] or [[silver]] leaf may also be incorporated into the painting.
==Development==
The impetus for reinvigorating traditional painting by developing a more modern Japanese style came largely from [[art critic]]s [[Okakura Tenshin]] and [[Ernest Fenollosa]] who attempted to combat Meiji Japan's infatuation with Western culture by emphasizing to the Japanese the importance and beauty of native Japanese traditional arts. These two men played important roles in developing the curricula at major art schools, and actively encouraged and patronized artists.
''Nihonga'' was not simply a continuation of older painting traditions. In comparison with ''[[Yamato-e]]'' the range of subjects was broadened. Moreover, stylistic and technical elements from several traditional schools, such as the ''[[Kano school|Kano-ha]],'' ''[[Rimpa school|Rinpa]]'' and ''[[Maruyama Okyo]]'' were blended together. The distinctions that had existed among schools in the [[Edo period]] were minimized.
However, in many cases ''Nihonga'' artists also adopted realistic Western painting techniques, such as [[perspective (graphical)|perspective]] and shading. Because of this tendency to synthesize, although ''Nihonga'' form a distinct category within the Japanese annual [[Japan Art Academy|Nitten]] exhibitions, in recent years, it has become increasingly difficult to draw a distinct separation in either techniques or materials between ''Nihonga'' and ''Yōga''.
==Nihonga outside Japan==
''Nihonga'' has a following around the world; two notable ''Nihonga'' artists who are not based in Japan are the [[Canada|Canadian artist]] [[Miyuki Tanobe]] and the American artist [[Makoto Fujimura]].
==See also==
[[List of Nihonga Painters]]
==References==
* Briessen, Fritz van. ''The Way of the Brush: Painting Techniques of China and Japan''. Tuttle (1999). ISBN: 0804831947
* Conant, Ellen P., Rimer, J. Thomas, Owyoung, Stephen. ''Nihonga: Transcending the Past: Japanese-Style Painting, 1868-1968''. Weatherhill (1996). ISBN: 0834803631
[[Category:Art movements]]
[[Category:Japanese painting]]
[[Category:Schools of Japanese art]]
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