Water-Colour Painting

WATER-COLOUR PAINTING. The art of water-colour has passed through a renaissance since about 1890 and has again assumed a recognized place among the mediums of artistic ex pression. For many years the medium had been looked down upon and considered unimportant, and of use only in young ladies' "finishing schools." The 20th century has seen this most spon taneous of all mediums regain its eminence and vital beauty. A small group in England, the United States and France kept the use of water-colour alive until the present awakening, and great water-colour societies have now grown up and become of na tional and international importance.

Ancient Chinese Art.

Water-colour in its various forms constitutes one of the finest and most permanent records of art that has come down to us, reaching back into the 3rd century of Chinese art, and it was also used both by the Japanese and the East Indian artists in various forms. We find in the Chinese art a great use of clear water-colour and some use of tempera (q.v.). Brushes for the very fine work were as a rule made of sable hair; selected pig bristles were used for coarse textures. An elaborate and adroit handling of the brush was cultivated, the re sult being a delicate and exquisite line; design was ranked above colour in most of the early work. It is interesting to note that water-colour was always used in the East to a much greater de gree than oil, being more delicate and of greater flexibility.

Paper and silk were the surfaces used. Paper of wood bark came first, and then silk was made into a kind of paper but it was found too glossy ; then came a tough rice-paper. Silk was mounted on paper and glued down to hold the colour intact and keep it from spreading. The backing was built up by placing layers of paper on successively, and it is said that the silk was moistened and stretched, which seems reasonable since we stretch our fine rag papers to-day. The ink, of course, went through, onto the backing, making two pictures. Black ink was frequently the only colour used, though dark brown, or sepia, appears. The most in teresting impressions were done in ink by the masters of the Sung dynasty and by the Japanese of the 15th century. (See ART :

Far Eastern Methods; CHINESE PAINTING; JAPANESE PAINTING AND PRINTS. ) Rich colour and much use of gold dominate the Buddhist pic tures. The masterpieces of the religious painters contain a fine rhythm of design, which gives them a fundamental character, ex quisite subdued colour, and is also found in the flower designs and birdpieces. Poetic suggestion, and not representation, was the most important part of the Ming art, and helped to explain the great use of water-colour. In the Sung dynasty, lampblack began to be used, mixed with a glue made from donkey hides boiled in water. The glue obtained is the colour of amber, glossy and odour less, and is mixed with black made from soot which is obtained from imperfect combustion in the burning of dry pine or fir. This was used to the end of the Yuan dynasty, notably by Tung Chi-Chang, Wu Wei and Fu Shan. This depth of colour and glossiness was lacking in the Ming ink as used by Shen Chau, T'ang Yin, Weu Cheng-Ming and Ch'in Ying. In the Sung work (see Plate I.; figs. I and 2), no attempt was made at modelling; consequently there was no trace of light and shade. The figures stand in a flat light. Of course, this enhances the decorative effect greatly. The following artists of the Sung dynasty (A.D. 96o I 28o) are the outstanding ones as far as known : Wen Tung, Tung Chi-Ch'ang, Wu Wei, Fu Shan, Shen Chan, T'ang Yin, Wen Cheng-Ming, Ch'in Ying, and Kuo Chung-Shu.

Japanese Art.

From the 6th century the development of painting may be shown as follows : (I) middle of 6th to middle of 9th century: naturalization of Chinese and Chino-Buddhist Art; (2) middle of 9th to middle of 15th century: establishment of great native schools under Kose no Kanaoka and descendants— pure Chinese school falling into neglect; (3) 15th to latter part of 17th century: revival of Chinese style; (4) latter part of 17th to latter part of 18th century: popular school; (5) i8th to i9th century : introduction of European influence—naturalistic school —acme and decline of popular school; (6) 1875 to present : a period of transition.