Arts and crafts of old Japan

"Arts and crafts of old Japan" by Stewart Dick is an introductory art history survey written in the early 20th century. Aimed at general readers rather than connoisseurs, it explains the aesthetics, materials, and methods behind Japan’s traditional arts, from painting and color prints to sculpture, metalwork, ceramics, lacquer, gardens, and flower arrangement. It sets these arts within their social and historical context, contrasting Japanese conventions with Western expectations and highlighting the key schools, masters, and techniques that shaped “old Japan.” The opening of Arts and crafts of old Japan sets out the author’s purpose, cautions against unreliable criticism, and names a few dependable authorities, then offers a broad introduction arguing that Japan’s refined aesthetic culture, calligraphic training, and lightweight architecture produced arts marked by suggestion, restraint, and superb design. It sketches Japan’s historical backdrop—from the arrival of Buddhism and temple-centered culture through samurai rule and Tokugawa peace to the disruptive contact with the West—before surveying painting’s forms, brush-based conventions, and major lineages (Buddhist imagery, Tosa/Yamato, the Chinese-influenced masters such as Sesshiu, the Kano school, Korin’s decorative originality, and the Ukioyé turn toward everyday life).

Arts and crafts of old Japan, by Stewart Dick. Republished by OpenStories from Project Gutenberg eBook #76830.