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How can you tell if art is Japanese or Chinese?
1 Answer
To tell if art is Japanese or Chinese, study the piece's characteristics. With paintings, Chinese artists often use more color and tend to fill their entire canvases, while Japanese artists often include more negative space and choose subtler colors. There are also differences between the brushstrokes typical of traditional Chinese and Japanese art. In Japanese paintings, brushstrokes are often short and sharp. On the other hand, Chinese paintings often display longer, more fluid brushstrokes. Learning about the defining features of various art forms and periods and looking at examples of pieces made by Japanese and Chinese artists can help you learn to spot subtle differences. Explore a diverse assortment of Japanese and Chinese art on 1stDibs.
1stDibs ExpertOctober 15, 2024
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Shop for Japanese Paintings on 1stDibs
19th Century Japanese Shunga Hand-Scroll, Katsukawa School
Located in Kyoto, JP
Shunga
Unknown artist
Meiji era, circa 1880
Hand-scroll mounted with 12 paintings
Ink, pigment and gofun on silk
Dimensions:
Each image measures H. 23.2 cm x W. 34.4 cm (9.15” x 13.5”)
The hand-scroll measures H. 28 cm x W. 540 cm (11” x 212”)
A set of 12 late 19th century Japanese Shunga paintings mounted as a hand-scroll. Two of the leaves bear the signature and seal ‘Setsuzan’, although we are unable to confirm the identity of the artist using this art name. 6 of the 12 images are taken almost directly from Katsukawa Shuncho’s late 18th century woodblock series, ‘Erotic Pictures...
Category
Antique Late 19th Century Japanese Meiji Paintings and Screens
Materials
Silk
Early 20th Century Japanese Screen Pair - Ink Pine Trees on Gold
Located in Kyoto, JP
Imao Keisho (1902-1993)
Pine Trees
Early 20th Century, Circa 1930
Pair of six-panel Japanese screens. Ink on silk and gold leaf.
Dimensions: Each screen H. 67.5” x 148” (172 cm x 376 cm)
A pair of monumental six-panel Japanese pine screens by the renowned Nihonga artist Imao Keisho. Here Keisho entirely removed the background and brought the pine trees to the surface of the painting. This simplification of the elements makes the scene exceptionally direct and compelling and injects a very modern...
Category
Early 20th Century Japanese Showa Paintings and Screens
Materials
Gold Leaf
Early 19th Century Japanese Screen. Cherry Blossom & Pheasants by Mori Tetsuzan
Located in Kyoto, JP
Mori Tetsuzan (1775-1841)
Pheasants and Cherry Blossoms
Two-fold Japanese screen. Ink, color, gofun, gold and silver on paper.
A two-fold Japanese bir...
Category
Antique Early 19th Century Japanese Edo Paintings and Screens
Materials
Gold Leaf
Mid-18th Century Japanese Screen Pair, One Hundred Flowers, Chrysanthemums
Located in Kyoto, JP
Omori Soun (b. 1704)
Chrysanthemums - One Hundred Flowers
A Pair of Six-fold Japanese Screens. Ink, color, gofun and gold leaf on paper.
Dating ...
Category
Antique Mid-18th Century Japanese Edo Paintings and Screens
Materials
Gold Leaf
Wooden work board of an old Japanese lacquerware craftsman/wall hanging object
Located in Sammu-shi, Chiba
This is a workbench used by a lacquerware craftsman around the Showa era. Originally, it was a workbench with drawers, but the drawer portion has been lost, leaving only the top boar...
Category
20th Century Japanese Showa Paintings
Materials
Wood
Early 20th Century Japanese Cherry Blossom Screen by Kano Sanrakuki
Located in Kyoto, JP
Cherry Blossoms
Kano Sanrakuki (1898-1981)
Showa period, circa 1930
2-panel Japanese Screen
Color, gofun and gold leaf on paper
Against a backdrop of gold-leafed ground, the lichen covered trunk and branches of the life-sized cherry blossom tree reach out and beyond the confines of the pictorial surface. The overall composition has a feeling of flatness which draws emphasis to the surface and the three-dimensionality of the cherry blossoms. Painstakingly built-up layers of thickly applied shell-white gofun detail the voluminous blossoms and cover large areas of this tour-de-force of Japanese Nihonga painting. By simplifying the background, minimizing the number of colors and depicting the blossoms with such heavy relief, the artist has emphasized the stunning presence of the cherry tree. The type of tree depicted is the Yae-Zakura; a double-layered type of cherry blossom famed for its beauty and strength. When we think of Japanese cherry blossoms, the first thing that comes to mind is Somei Yoshino variety, which has a single flower with five almost white petals. This type is fragile and easily blown away by strong wind or rain. Most of the double-flowered cherry blossoms begin to bloom when the Somei-Yoshino falls, and the flowering period lasts longer than that of the Somei-Yoshino.
Kano Sanrakuki originally studied painting at the Kyoto City Arts and Crafts School under the tutelage of Yamamoto Shunkyo...
Category
Early 20th Century Japanese Showa Paintings and Screens
Materials
Gold Leaf
