Japan art and Ishizaki Kōyō: Beauty of birds, freedom, and space
Lee Jay Walker
Modern Tokyo Times
Ishizaki Kōyō (1884-1947) was born in Tokyama, Japan. From a very young age, he studied art under Yamamoto Koichi. Hence, despite the momentous artistic changes of the Meiji Period (1868-1912), Kōyō firstly developed his artistic skills in the style of traditionalists throughout the Edo Period.
This alludes to the world of rinpa (rimpa) art. Thus gracefulness and rich cultural traits were firm benchmarks for Kōyō to enhance his artistic skills during his informative years.
His artistic mentors – Koichi and Takeuchi Seiho – enhanced a strong sense of identity in Kōyō. Hence, while some Japanese artists experimented greatly in this period of history, a sense of tradition and continuity is felt in his art.
Birds by Kōyō are illuminated in his art because a sense of serenity and freedom persists outside the subject matter. Birds are free from the political and social convulsions that are impacting Japan. Therefore, viewing Kōyō’s art concerning birds is a way of bypassing the communist, nationalist, and modernization processes that engulfed Northeast Asia.
Kōyō traveled to parts of Europe, India, and internally in Japan. Yet, once more, just like the artistic convulsions whereby Western art enticed countless Japanese artists – in the art pieces in this article, it appears that different cultures to the dynamics impacting the world were a million miles away from his artistic mindset.
The world of Koyasan, Kyoto, Nara, and high culture all impacted Kōyō to a high degree. Thus the pervasive serenity of his art sums up the world he knew where he could keep the negative forces of politics at bay.
PLEASE DONATE TO HELP MODERN TOKYO TIMES
Modern Tokyo News is part of the Modern Tokyo Times group
DONATIONS to SUPPORT MODERN TOKYO TIMES – please pay PayPal and DONATE to sawakoart@gmail.com
http://moderntokyotimes.com Modern Tokyo Times – International News and Japan News
http://sawakoart.com – Sawako Utsumi personal website and Modern Tokyo Times artist
https://moderntokyonews.com Modern Tokyo News – Tokyo News and International News
PLEASE JOIN ON TWITTER
https://twitter.com/MTT_News Modern Tokyo Times
PLEASE JOIN ON FACEBOOK