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giga@Yæ | ||||||
KEY WORD :@art history / paintings | ||||||
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Humorous
or satiric paintings, or sketches or drawings done in fun. Typically, giga
have human and animal figures that are painted in a simple manner using
quick brushstrokes. In Chinese tradition, the literati called their own
ink paintings giga, meaning that they painted them in fun as opposed
to the works of professional painters. See *bokugi
nY. The earliest giga are Asuka period scribblings
in the margins or on the back of manuscript sheets. These were probably
drawn by students who were copying Buddhist scriptures. Giga were
sometimes graffiti-like in that they were drawn on hidden surfaces of Buddhist
statues and architecture. A well-known 7c. example is the graffiti discovered
on the hidden side of ceiling boards of the *Kondou à° of Houryuuji @² in Nara.
See *rakugaki .
Sketchy brushwork similar to these scribblings is found in handscroll paintings
*emaki Gª of comic popular
tales dating from the Heian period, and later in the well-known illustrated
handscroll painting of The Legends of Mt. Shigi, Shigisan engi emaki
MMRNGª (12c; Chougosonshiji ©ì·q, Nara). Exaggerated expressions and
poses characteristic of giga are also found in these handscroll paintings.
It is recorded that making comic, satiric paintings called *oko-e
jÄG was a popular aristocratic recreation in the Heian period. The first
two characteristic oko-e are The Frolicking Animals and Humans,
Choujuu jinbutsu giga ¹blšYæ (12c; Kouzanji R, Kyoto), in which
animals are humorously painted in anthropomorphic poses. Comic and satiric
elements are found in emaki of the Kamakura period such as The Tale
of a Hapless Painter Eshi no soushi Gtq (first half of the 14c.;
Imperial Collection) and became important in the illustrated popular tales
of the Muromachi period either in handscroll or booklet *soushi-e
ûqG format known as *otogi
zoushi äŸq. A different type of humorous painting appeared in the
Kamakura period when the tradition of ink painting was imported from China.
Following Chinese tradition, Zen eccentrics such as *Hotei
zÜ (Ch. Butai) and Hanshan and Shide *Kanzan
Jittoku ŠREŸ, were often depicted humorously in a simplified manner
using quick brushstrokes. Early Japanese examples of these paintings were
done by monk painters of the 14c. such as Mokuan ÙÁ (died ca. 1345) and
Kaou ¥ (active in the 14c). Humorous portraits of Zen patriarchs and Taoist
immortals continued to be produced in ink *suibokuga
næ, until the Edo period. In the early Edo period, the *Rinpa
Ôh artists Tawaraya Soutatsu U®@B (?-ca.1640) and Ogata Kourin ö`õÔ (1658-1716)
left many humorous ink paintings of legendary human figures. In the mid-Edo
period, Zen Buddhist monks Hakuin B (1685-1769) and Sengai åR (1750-1837)
established a unique style using broad brushwork. The same subject matter
was taken up in grotesque caricatures by the eccentrics, Soga Shouhaku
\äåJ (1730-81) and Nagasawa Rosetsu ·òåbá (1754-99). Various human figures,
including Zen patriarchs, were depicted humorously by Southern school
*nanga ìæ artists such
as Yosa Buson ^Ó³º (1716-84), whose work is often categorized as haiku
painting *haiga oæ.
Other types of popular Edo period giga: *ootsu-e
åÃG, indigenous us to Ootsu, Shiga preference and characterized by exaggerated
figures drawn with broad brushstrokes; and *toba-e
¹HG, named after the tradition of giga attributed to the priest Toba
Soujou ¹Hm³ (1053-1140), which were wood-block prints showing figures of men in a comic
or satiric way. A famous example of giga from the late Edo period
is the 15 volume, wood-block, printed books Hokusai's Caricatures, Hokusai
manga kÖæ (published from 1814 to 1879) by Katsushika Hokusai ükÖ
(1760-1849). |
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REFERENCES: | ||||||
*manga æ | ||||||
EXTERNAL LINKS: | ||||||
¹blšYæfÈ at Tokyo National Museum@@ | ||||||
NOTES: | ||||||
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(C)2001 Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System.@No reproduction or republication without written permission. fÚÌeLXgEÊ^ECXgÈÇASÄÌRec̳f¡»E]ÚðֶܷB |
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