Japanese Art of the Meiji Period

The Meiji Restoration: a country changes course

Japan's forced opening by the United States in 1853 ended centuries of seclusion and led in 1868 to the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate. Emperor Mutsuhito regained real power and took the reign name Meiji, "enlightened rule". Within a few decades Japan adopted Western administration, law, industry and a new school system, and by the end of the 19th century had risen to become the most powerful nation in Asia. The change reached clothing, architecture and the fine arts alike.

Nihonga and Yōga: a struggle for identity

With oil painting, called Yōga, Western techniques and forms of expression arrived in Japan. As a deliberate response, the term Nihonga – "Japanese-style picture" – emerged: artists explicitly invoked the native tradition with its pigments, supports and techniques. This debate shaped the Japanese art world for decades. That the traditional subjects did not disappear can be seen in scrolls of this era: cranes beneath pines, Mount Fuji above bands of cloud, carp in the current, dragons in ink clouds, birds and flowers through the changing seasons.

The Kanō tradition lives on

Many Meiji painters had still been trained in the visual language of the Kanō school, which had shaped Japan's official painting from the 15th into the 19th century. Anyone painting a Kanō landscape around 1900 was doing exactly what he had been trained to do. Some scrolls therefore bear the seals of earlier Kanō masters without being by them – as a bow to the school in whose lineage the painter placed himself. Besides landscapes and animal pictures there were paintings of beautiful women (bijinga), Zen subjects such as Bodhidharma or Kanzan and Jittoku, calligraphy and sets of several scrolls, for example on the four seasons.

Japonisme and the world's fairs

With the opening, Japanese woodblock prints, lacquerware, textiles and above all ceramics and porcelain reached Europe and the United States in large quantities. At the world's fairs in Vienna in 1873 and Paris in 1878 and 1889, Japan presented its crafts to an international public, and Japonisme had a lasting influence on Impressionism and Art Nouveau. For pottery centers such as Arita and Kutani this meant a second, vigorous export boom. At the same time, many small kilns lost their feudal patrons when the domain system ended and had to hold their own in the market.

Daruma figures in Bizen and Kutani

Among Meiji-period figures one subject is especially frequent: Bodhidharma, called Daruma in Japan, who is regarded as the founder of Zen Buddhism. He is usually shown with a piercing gaze, knitted brows and a hood drawn over his head – an expression of his legendary nine years of meditation. In Japan, Daruma is a good-luck charm and a symbol of perseverance. Figures in Bizen ceramics are unglazed and earth-toned; the wood firing leaves dark shading that deepens the expression. Figures in Kutani porcelain, by contrast, carry bold overglaze painting, often in vivid red with gold, occasionally also in brilliant white.

How to recognize Meiji pieces

With scrolls, the support reveals the most: paper and silk take on a warmer tone, and the ink draws into the fibers. Synthetic aniline dyes can be traced in Japan from the 1860s – strong colors on a Meiji painting are therefore no contradiction. The mounting says little, because it is renewed over time; roller ends (jikusaki) of bone or wood are part of the classic fittings. Signature and period are two separate statements that can diverge. On figures, the signature or stamp is usually on the underside; a stamp often denotes the workshop rather than an individual hand.

Display and care

A kakemono is traditionally shown in the tokonoma and hung low there, because it is viewed while seated. In a Western home it looks more natural with the center of the image at roughly eye level. It hangs for a few weeks at a time, in indirect light and steady humidity, and is then stored loosely rolled in its wooden box; remove dust only dry, with a soft brush. A Daruma figure needs a calm, secure spot – on a shelf, in a niche or beside a scroll with a Zen subject. Wooden box and enclosures always stay with the piece.

What collectors look for

A carefully painted Meiji scroll carries a great tradition forward and hangs on your wall as an original, not a reproduction. What matters is that it was painted by hand: brushstrokes start with pressure and trail off, and a genuinely stamped seal sits slightly raised. Make sure condition and attribution are openly described. With figures, look at the firing, glaze or painting and at the expression of the face – that is where the workshop's hand shows.