Painting - Kaiga

Japanese: 絵画 - かいが

It is a type of art that belongs to the field of plastic arts and refers to two-dimensional art that uses color and line to express a certain shape, either alone or in various combinations. In the narrow sense, it may not include drawings or prints, which use lines as the main expression.

There are many types of paintings and their names, but they can be categorized as follows: (1) by style, mural painting, ceiling painting, altar painting, miniature painting, picture scroll, screen painting, etc.; (2) by material, fresco painting, gypsum painting, tempera painting, oil painting, watercolor painting, pastel painting, glass painting, wax painting, Japanese painting, ink painting, etc.; (3) by subject, religious painting (Buddhist painting, Christian painting, etc.), mythological painting, historical painting, figure painting (portrait, self-portrait, genre painting, nude painting, etc.), landscape painting, landscape painting, interior painting, still life painting, flower and bird painting, architectural drawing, etc.; and (4) by content, decorative painting, sketch painting, fantasy painting, allegorical painting, caricature, caricature, etc. Each of these has a history of rise and fall, and changes in style, reflecting the characteristics of the region and the tastes of the time.

[Shinichi Nagai]

The History of Oriental Painting

Oriental paintings can be broadly divided into Chinese and Indian. In China, a ceramic basin with a human face and fish design unearthed at the Banpo ruins in Banpo village, Xi'an, can be cited as an example that shows the creative act of early humans drawing things. This is a solid black basin decorated with a human face and fish design, and although it is a design for a vessel, it contains simple human wisdom regarding painting. Meanwhile, the oracle bone script excavated at the Yin Ruins and other sites concretely shows the emergence of writing, but pictographs, which are simplified representations of objects, are a form of expression that preceded painting, and very frankly present the essence of artistic expression unique to China, that calligraphy and painting have the same origin.

From the Han dynasty to the Wei and Jin dynasties, paintings began to play a practical role as tomb decorations and grave goods. At first, the themes of these paintings were myths, legends, and the afterlife, but eventually they began to depict the lives of the deceased in a realistic style. Silk paintings (paintings on silk) discovered in the Han tomb No. 1 at Mawangdui in Changsha, which was excavated after 1972, are thought to depict the deceased ascending to heaven (Kunlun Mountain), and are presumed to have been the work of a professional painter. In addition, the painted stone (stone with images carved in shallow relief) found on the inner walls of Han tombs, including those of the Wulang family, are also noteworthy for their strong pictorial nature.

In China, the plastic arts were limited to calligraphy and painting, and the tradition has continued to modern times, but its foundations were formed from the Han to Wei and Jin dynasties. Currently, the only painter from this period known for both his work (a copy from the Tang dynasty) and his name is Gu Kaizhi's "Lady's Painting" (British Museum, London), from the early 5th century. This scroll is a collection of earlier painting traditions, refined and refined, and in addition to depictions of men and women and their customs, there are also scenes depicting mountainous landscapes, and the delicate and elegant screens, which are based on lines called "playing silk paintings," are considered the pinnacle of Chinese painting. The main subject of paintings from this period were portraits and figure paintings, and Gu Kaizhi's painting style, which symbolically depicts the spiritual content of the subject, was a model for painters for many generations to come. In China, Confucianism-based discernment dominated painting until Buddhism was introduced, so portraits and figures became the main mediums. In the 6th century, Xie He of the Southern Qi Dynasty developed a theory of painting in the "Law of Ancient Paintings," which had a great influence by discussing the six principles of "creating a sense of rhythm, using a brush to create a structure, responding to the image of the object, coloring according to the type, management position, and transmission and copying." This theory has been passed down for a long time as the ideal of Chinese painting, and it remains alive in modern times as a painting theory with universal relevance.

From the Northern and Southern Dynasties to the Tang Dynasty, Buddhist culture flourished, and with the influx of Western art, Chinese paintings made a leap into a cosmic world, and their appearance became more diverse. While Buddhist-themed works were produced in great numbers, Chinese artists also preferred to paint subjects from nature and everyday life. The Pure Land depicted in Buddhist paintings is an expression of the idealized world of Buddhists, while secular paintings extolled the emotions of everyday life. These two aspects were inseparably linked, and formed the main axis of painting themes. Western techniques were also adopted, and new styles not seen in traditional Chinese paintings appeared, but the standards of beauty still did not deviate from the framework of the Six Laws, and it seems that the theory of the Six Laws was actually embodied in the paintings of the Tang Dynasty, which incorporated Western influences. The realism, idealism, and humanism seen in paintings of this period can be seen in part in mural remains such as the murals in the passageway of the tomb of Princess Yongtai, and in the murals and ceiling paintings of the Tang Dynasty caves such as those at the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang. Tang painting, which can be said to have preceded the Renaissance in Western Europe, eventually reached the height of its maturity, demonstrating highly advanced forms of expression in terms of brushwork and coloring, the culmination of which was ink painting. The essence of Chinese painting can be seen in the condensation of the five colors into one color of ink, and the transition from elaborate realism to simplified brushwork.

Indian paintings, which are based on the themes of the life of Buddha and tales of the Buddha's past life, are only partially preserved in murals such as those in the Ajanta Caves from the ancient Buddhist period, but they have a strong genre element that mixes religion with real human life. With the rise of Hinduism, painting ceded its place to sculpture, and miniatures came to dominate the art world as illustrations for books of myths and folk legends, leading to the development of a unique style of painting.

In Japan, during the Asuka and Nara periods, the Sui and Tang styles were imported and assimilated from China, and more refined and elegant paintings were produced. Buddhist paintings such as the murals in the Golden Hall of Horyu-ji Temple (burned down in 1949) and secular paintings such as the figures on the murals of the Takamatsuzuka Tomb are superior to the Tang relics of the same period. Then, in the Heian period, Buddhist paintings became even more refined, and secular paintings created a unique style called Yamato-e that suited the sensibilities of the Japanese. During the Kamakura period, picture scrolls using Yamato-e were produced in great numbers, while ink paintings brought from Song along with Zen Buddhism became popular among Zen Buddhist monks. The latter was considered important as Zen Buddhist art during the Muromachi period, and monk-painters such as Sesshu appeared who devoted himself to creating Japanese-style ink paintings that went beyond the traditions of the Song and Yuan dynasties.

During the Azuchi-Momoyama period, castles such as Azuchi Castle were constructed, and gold and silver paintings were painted on the sliding doors and walls of the palaces, and gorgeous paintings became popular along with folding screen paintings. The artists of these folding screen paintings were mostly from the Kano school, but the work of the Hasegawa school, which was not satisfied with the Kano school's style of Chinese painting alone and expressed the delicate charm of nature, is also noteworthy. Even in the Edo period, the Kano school monopolized the art world and only followed the traditions, but the so-called Rinpa school, including Sotatsu and Korin, appeared and brought a new wind.

Meanwhile, during the Momoyama period, Western painting was introduced mainly to Nagasaki, and some Japanese artists began to study it and paint what is known as Western-style painting. The Maruyama-Shijo school was also influenced by it, and opened up new horizons in the depiction of nature. In addition, ukiyo-e was a popular art that spread against the backdrop of the rise of Edo townspeople's culture, and the intricate techniques and outstanding expressions of prints in particular have earned it high praise internationally.

When we look at the history of Eastern painting in this way, we realize that it is difficult to generalize it under a single concept. This is because painting forms a different stream from the history of Western tableaux, and because it is deeply connected to the nature, climate, and ethnic and national character in which humans live.

[Shinichi Nagai]

The Development of Western Painting

Today, when we talk about paintings in the Western world, the concept is often understood as meaning the French word tableau. Tableau refers to a painting that is complete in both form and content, so things like etudes (studies) or sketches (rough sketches) are not included in this concept. Tableau originally meant panel painting, and its history can be traced back to the mummified portraits of late antiquity. In ancient Egypt, portraits of nobles were painted on long, vertical boards and hung in rooms, and when the owner died, the boards were placed over the face of the coffin containing the mummy. It is said that some portraits were painted after death. The technique used was encaustic (wax painting). In the early Christian era, panel paintings developed as icons, especially in the Byzantine culture. Icons were deeply connected to religious beliefs and rituals, and therefore were the subject of repeated iconoclasm controversies and iconoclasm movements, preventing their spread. Later, the 15th century Russian monk Rublev kept the icon alive for a time with his works that were rich in color and lyricism. In the early Middle Ages, wall paintings and illuminated manuscripts were more prevalent than panel paintings as pictorial expression. The red decorative letters used in these manuscripts were called "miniatures" from the Latin word minium (red lead), but later it gradually came to mean small illustrations in manuscripts, and eventually the concept of miniature painting was established. The 15th century "The Most Sumptuous Book of Hours of the Duke of Berry" is a masterpiece of gorgeous miniature painting and is considered a treasure in the history of French painting.

In the 12th century, panel painting began to be revived in Italy. It was mainly used as antependium (an altar decoration, originally a hanging in front of an altar, but sometimes in panel painting or relief) and retabel (a screen behind an altar), which were closely linked to the altar. North of the Alps, panel painting was revived somewhat later in the 13th century. During the Renaissance, murals rather than panel painting became the mainstream in Italy, but in Flanders and Germany, panel painting, which led to the concept of tableau today, was rapidly developed in terms of technique, materials (paints), and content. The main form of expression was the altarpiece, and panel painting on wooden door altars (Flügelaltars) flourished in Flanders and Germany in the 15th and 16th centuries. These were painted on both wings and the front and back of the altar doors, which open in the middle. The doors were often doubled, and some had one wing nailed to several panels. The Van Eyck brothers' Gan Altarpiece and Grünewald's Isenheim Altarpiece are known as masterpieces. Panel paintings eventually left the altar, and became pairs or independent tableaux, exploring themes such as history, religion, people, portraits, self-portraits, and landscapes. Around the middle of the 15th century, Italians such as Mantegna and Jacopo Bellini began to use canvases stretched over a wooden frame in parallel with panel paintings. However, in the north, panel paintings were still favored even in the 16th century.

At the time, tempera was the paint commonly used for panel paintings. It dried quickly and made the surface dry, so it was varnished with resin or linseed oil to keep it shiny. Oil painting, on the other hand, uses oil as a medium to dissolve the paint, and has the great advantage of giving the colors transparency and luster compared to tempera, and of allowing colors to be juxtaposed and layered without mixing. Vasari, a painter and art historian, claimed that the invention of oil painting was the work of the Van Eyck brothers, but this theory is now rejected. Nevertheless, the first and most outstanding painting using oil was undoubtedly the work of the brothers, and in particular the "Gan Altarpiece," which is thought to have been a collaboration between the brothers, fully demonstrates the characteristics of oil painting with its deep spatial composition and realistic depiction of the subject. At the same time, while this altarpiece depicts religious figures and scenes, it brilliantly anticipates the various elements of modern painting that would later differentiate into portraits, landscapes, still lifes, and interiors.

In the early days of oil painting, a base was often painted with tempera and then oil paints were applied on top of it. However, this method of painting a base was later abandoned, and artists began to try out painting directly onto the canvas, a method known as alla prima, which became widespread. This oil painting technique was highly praised in 15th-century Italy, and Antonello da Messina is known as the first Italian painter to use this technique. In this way, the genre of tableaux, which is painted with oil on canvas, was gradually developed, and over time it became established as a representative method of painting.

The tableaux that were created in this way would go on to carve out a place in history as the mainstream of art after the Renaissance. The primary objective of these paintings was to logically grasp the figures and to reproduce them on a flat surface with a precise sensory precision, reflecting the Renaissance ideal defined as the "discovery of the world and man" (Jacob Burckhardt). Two things were particularly important in order to achieve this objective. The first was to accurately organize the space that allowed the figures to exist as figures, and the second was to accurately replace the light that allowed the figures to appear as figures with color. The method of spatial expression on a flat surface had already been pioneered as perspective by Greek painter Agatharchus in the 5th century BC, but it was not until the Renaissance that this method was theoretically explored and established. Brunelleschi and Alberti clarified the mathematical structure of perspective, and Masaccio, Uccello, Leonardo da Vinci, and Raphael all studied it energetically, achieving outstanding results. The German painter Dürer was a great figure who brought perspective north of the Alps through theory and practice. In the 17th century Baroque era, the new spirit of Renaissance spread beyond the Alps to European countries. In this era of art of the nations, tableaux became even more popular, and Caravaggio in Italy, El Greco and Velázquez in Spain, Rubens in Belgium, Rembrandt in the Netherlands, and Poussin in France are remembered as painters who brought new spatial expressions while attempting to revise Renaissance paintings by using light and dark contrasts, dynamic composition, purification of colors, and a return to classicism, respectively.

On the other hand, color expression, especially the sensory depiction of materials, was developed mainly in Flanders, following in the footsteps of the Van Eyck brothers. In particular, in the interior paintings, still lifes, and landscapes that developed in the 17th century in the Netherlands, detailed depictions of materials were promoted almost entirely as trompe l'oeil. In Flanders, where wealthy merchants were the patrons of art, the accurate depiction of material texture was the highlight of a painter's skill, and this prompted the invention of a material (oil paint) that could accurately replace light with color. The invention of oil paint can be said to have made painters' sense of light even more acute. Paintings from the era of absolute monarchy through the French Revolution to the era of Napoleon reflect ideas that are opposed to Rococo-style elegant banquet paintings in the first half and classical paintings in the second half, but this was the so-called Grande Painture (Grand Painting) era, in which historical paintings and allegorical paintings were mainstream, including Romantic paintings that were opposed to classical paintings. The 18th century French painter Chardin made his name with simple still-life paintings that were inspired by the traditions of Flemish painting. He was a pioneer who discovered that objects do not exist in isolation, reflecting a single type of light, but that objects exist in a state of interdependence through the exchange of light between them.

[Taro Nomura]

The development of modern painting

Chardin's discovery in his practice, through the medium of Courbet, who followed the Romantic movement in advocating realism, and Manet, who boldly rejected large paintings and focused on natural light, eventually encouraged the awareness of plein air, which is central to Impressionist aesthetics. In particular, Monet, who believed that "the painter is the eye," aimed to paint a picture by completely replacing the impression that light, "the physical self of nature" (Helmholtz), has on the retina with color. It can be said that Impressionism, which is said to have approached the ultimate in realism, thus reached the pinnacle of one of the goals that painting had been striving for since the Renaissance.

Paintings from the Impressionist period to the present day have more or less left behind the footprints of criticism, revision, and overcoming of the conventional paintings mentioned above. Munch, a Scandinavian painter who studied in Paris during the Belle Époque, decided that "I should no longer paint interiors with men reading or women knitting. I must paint living people who feel, worry, and love." He exerted a great influence on subsequent generations by expressing the inner world of death and eros, which had not been dealt with in conventional visual art. It is also noteworthy that when he set the inner theme, he sought the completeness of each piece as a tableau, while at the same time intending to organize them into a series of "friezes of life." With Munch as his pioneer, the anti-realist Expressionist movement developed extremely actively in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century.

Maurice Denis, a painter influenced by Gauguin, who took a position of revision of impressionist aesthetics, defined painting as "a plane covered with colors unified by a certain order, whether it is a war horse, a nude woman, or whatever else is depicted in it," reaffirming the flatness of painting and raising a noteworthy question about the autonomy of the plane. He said that a painting should be seen first and foremost for the colors and forms that the painter has arranged and combined with his own initiative, rather than for the subject matter. Denis' definition was further refined in the ideas that developed from Cezanne to Cubism. Perspective was originally nothing more than a systematization of the outside world seen from a single viewpoint, and what it brings to the plane is nothing other than the illusion of space. A tableau painted in this way is, so to speak, a mere hole in the wall, equivalent to a second window. If painting is fundamentally flat, then rather than making the plane appear three-dimensional through an optical illusion, a new method should be devised to subjectively reduce the three-dimensional to the plane. This method is not achieved by heteronomously replacing the impression of light with color, as the Impressionists did. Rather, the issue is to reconstruct on the painting the color forms obtained from the artist's compound observation of the subject, in light of the artist's sensibility and the logic of the form. Based on this recognition, the Cubists sought in the tableau an autonomous world of expression through the analysis and reconstruction of the subject.

In the conventional art history, the fantastical expressions of artists such as Bosch, Bruegel, Goya, Redon, and Ensor, like Chardin in the Great Painting era, tend to be regarded as exceptions that deviate from the royal road of history. However, such fantastical expressions are by no means unique, but are daydreams of the hopes and desires that everyone represses in the subconscious world, and Surrealism seeks to explore this treasure trove of subconscious images. Some of these seem to follow traditional painting techniques, such as Dali and Magritte's trompe l'oeil. However, they are trying to open up the irrational world in the opposite way to the conventional way. It was Klee who used various mixed techniques, saying that "all materials are equal as long as they are used for artistic purposes," but Dada and Surrealism use materials that are not part of the conventional concept of tableau, and in an anti-artistic way. From the standpoint of abstract painting, the completeness of the tableau is questioned. Painting does not unilaterally give the viewer a consistent world of expression, but attempts to place the viewer in the midst of an experience of unknown color forms. In action painting, the canvas is defined as the space for the act of painting.

It can be said that painting has moved beyond the era of tableaux and is now exploring new concepts.

[Taro Nomura]

Jan van Eyck, "The Crucifixion and the Last Judgement"
1440-1441 Oil painting, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Jan van Eyck's "The Crucifixion and the...

Antonello da Messina, "Christ with the Crown of Thorns"
Circa 1470, probably oil on tempera (Metropolitan Museum of Art )

The Crown of Thorns by Antonello da Messina

El Greco "Assumption of the Virgin"
1577-1579 Oil on canvas (Collection of the Art Institute of Chicago )

El Greco "Assumption of the Virgin"

Rembrandt "The Night Watch"
1642 Oil painting , Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam ">

Rembrandt "The Night Watch"

Courbet's "Landscape at Ornans"
Probably mid-1850s, oil painting , Metropolitan Museum of Art

Courbet's "Landscape at Ornans"

Monet's "Haystacks, Late Summer"
1890-1891 Oil painting , owned by the Art Institute of Chicago

Monet's "Haystacks, Late Summer"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

造形芸術（美術）の一分野に属し、色と線を用いて、ある形を単独に、あるいは多様な組合せで表現する平面の芸術をいう。狭義には、線を主要な表現とするデッサンや版画を含めない場合もある。

　絵画の種類およびその名称はさまざまであるが、(1)形式から分けて壁画、天井画、祭壇画、細密画、絵巻、障屏(しょうへい)画など、(2)素材から分けてフレスコ画、セッコ画、テンペラ画、油絵、水彩画、パステル画、ガラス画、蝋(ろう)画、日本画、水墨画など、(3)主題から分けて宗教画（仏画、キリスト教絵画など）、神話画、歴史画、人物画（肖像画、自画像、風俗画、裸体画など）、風景画、山水画、室内画、静物画、花鳥画、建築図など、(4)表現内容から分けて装飾画、写生画、空想画、寓意(ぐうい)画、風刺画、戯画などに区別される。これらそれぞれには、地域の特性と時代の好尚を反映する発生と消長の歴史、および様式の変遷がある。

［永井信一］

東洋絵画の歩み

東洋の絵画は、大別すると中国とインドに分けられる。中国では、ものを描く初期人類の造形行為を表した例として、西安(せいあん)半坡(はんぱ)村の半坡遺跡出土の人面魚文陶盆をあげることができる。これは黒一色で人面と魚文をあしらったもので、器物の文様とはいえ、絵画に対する素朴な人間の知恵が蔵されている。一方、殷墟(いんきょ)などで発掘された甲骨文字は文字の発生を具体的に示しているが、物体を簡略に表した象形文字は、絵画化に先行する表現形式であり、書画同源という中国独自の芸術表現の本質を、きわめて率直に提示している。

　漢代から魏(ぎ)・晋(しん)になると、絵画は墳墓の装飾や副葬品として、実用的な役割を果たすようになる。それも、初めは神話・伝説や死後の世界を主題にしているが、やがて死者の生前の生活を写実風に描くようになる。1972年以降発掘された長沙馬王堆(まおうたい)1号漢墓から発見された帛画(はくが)（あらぎぬに描かれた絵）は、天界（崑崙山(こんろんざん)）に昇仙する死者のようすを図示したものとされ、専門画家の筆になるものと推定されている。また、武梁(ぶりょう)氏をはじめとする漢墓の内壁にみられる画像石（石に浅い浮彫りで図像を施す）も、絵画的性格が濃いものとして注目される。

　中国において、造形芸術は書と絵の二つに限られており、その伝統は長く近代まで続くが、その基盤は漢から魏・晋にかけて形成された。現在、この時代の画家で作品（唐代の模写）とその名がともに知られているのは、5世紀初頭の顧愷之(こがいし)筆と伝える『女史箴図(じょししんず)』（ロンドン・大英博物館）である。この絵巻は、それ以前の絵画の伝統を集約して洗練を加えたもので、男女の人物や風俗描写のほかに山岳など風景を描いた場面もあり、とくに遊糸画と称される描線を骨格とした繊麗優雅な画面は中国画の極致とされる。この時代の絵画の中心主題は肖像画、人物画であり、対象とする人物の精神内容を象徴的に描写する顧愷之の作画態度は、後世ながく画家たちの規範とされた。中国では仏教が伝来するまで儒教的な鑑戒主義が絵画の主流を占めていたから、肖像、人物が画材の中心となったのである。6世紀になって南斉(なんせい)の謝赫(しゃかく)が『古画品録』で画論を展開、気韻(きいん)生動、骨法用筆、応物象形、随類賦彩、経営位置、伝移模写の六法を論じて大きな影響を与えた。これは中国画の理想として長く伝えられ、現代においても普遍性をもった絵画論として生命を保っている。

　南北朝時代から唐代にかけては仏教文化が栄え、西方の芸術が流入するに及んで、中国絵画は宇宙的な広がりをもつ世界へ飛躍し、絵画の様相は多様化してくる。仏教を主題にした作品が盛んに描かれる一方、自然や日常生活のなかに題材を求めたものが好んで描かれた。仏画に描かれた浄土は仏教徒の理想化された世界の表現であり、これに対して生活感情をうたいあげたものが世俗画であった。この両者は表裏一体となって画題の主軸をなし、西方的な技法も取り入れられて従来の中国絵画にみられない新作風のものが現れたが、美の規準は依然として六法の枠をはずれるものではなく、むしろ六法の理論は、西方の影響を取り入れた唐代の絵画によって具体化された感がある。この時代の絵画にみられる写実主義、理想主義、人間主義は、永泰(えいたい)公主墳墓の羨道(えんどう)壁画をはじめとする壁画の遺品、敦煌莫高窟(とんこうばっこうくつ)など唐代の窟壁画や天井画に、その一端をしのぶことができる。西欧のルネサンスに先行したものといえる唐代絵画はやがて爛熟(らんじゅく)の極に達し、描筆、賦彩の面にも高度の表現形式を発揮し、その果てに生じたのが水墨画である。五彩を墨一色に凝集し、精巧な写実から省略した用筆へと移行するところに、中国絵画の本質をうかがわせるものがある。

　インドの絵画は、古代仏教時代の仏伝や本生譚(ほんしょうたん)（釈迦の前生物語）を主題にしたものが、アジャンタ石窟などの壁画に一部残るだけであるが、宗教と現実の人間生活を入り混ぜた風俗画的要素が濃い。ヒンドゥー教がおこると絵画は彫刻に主座を譲り、絵画は神話や民間伝説の書物の挿絵として、ミニアチュール（細密画）が画界の主流を支配し、独自の絵画様式を展開するに至った。

　日本の場合は、飛鳥(あすか)・奈良時代に中国から隋(ずい)・唐の様式を移入・消化し、さらに格調の高い典雅な絵画を制作した。仏画では法隆寺金堂壁画（1949焼失）、世俗画では高松塚古墳壁画の人物像のような、同時代の唐の遺品にもまさる優れた作品がみられる。そして平安時代に入ると、仏画はいっそう洗練さを増し、世俗画は大和絵(やまとえ)という日本人の感覚に適合した独自の様式をつくりだした。鎌倉時代にはこの大和絵を用いた絵巻が盛んにつくられる一方、禅宗とともに宋(そう)からもたらされた水墨画が禅林の画僧を中心に盛んになる。後者は室町時代には禅宗美術として重要視され、宋・元の伝統を超えて日本的な水墨画の制作に心をくだいた雪舟(せっしゅう)のような画僧も現れた。

　安土(あづち)桃山時代になると、安土城を代表とする城郭が造営され、殿舎内部の襖(ふすま)や壁面に金碧画(きんぺきが)が描かれ、屏風絵(びょうぶえ)とともに豪華絢爛(けんらん)たる絵画が流行した。これら障屏画の作者は狩野派(かのうは)が主流を占めたが、狩野派の漢画一辺倒の作風にあきたらず、自然の細やかな情趣を表現した長谷川(はせがわ)派の活躍も注目される。江戸時代になっても画界は狩野派が勢力を独占、いたずらに伝統を踏襲するのみであったが、宗達(そうたつ)や光琳(こうりん)らのいわゆる琳派(りんぱ)が現れて新風を巻き起こした。

　一方、桃山時代には長崎を中心に西洋の絵画が伝来、日本の画家のなかにもこれを学んで描く者が現れ、これを洋風画とよんでいる。円山(まるやま)四条派もその影響を受け、自然の描写に新境地を開いた。このほか浮世絵は、江戸の町人文化の勃興(ぼっこう)を背景に広まった庶民芸術であって、とくに版画作品の精緻(せいち)な技巧と卓抜な表現は、国際的にも高い評価を受けている。

　このように東洋の絵画の歩みをみてくると、これを一つの概念でくくるのがむずかしいことに気づく。それは、絵画が西欧のタブローの歩みとは別の流れを形成しているからであり、人間が生きる自然、風土、また民族性なり国民性とも深い関連があるためである。

［永井信一］

西洋絵画の歩み

今日の西洋絵画で単に絵画という場合、その概念はフランス語のタブローtableauの意味に理解されることが多い。タブローとは、形式・内容ともに完成された絵をいうので、エチュード（習作）ないしはエスキス（下絵）のようなものはこの概念に含めない。このタブローとはもともと板絵のことであり、その歴史は古代後期のミイラ肖像画にさかのぼることができる。これは、古代エジプトで縦長の板に貴人の似顔絵を描いて室内にかけ、その主が死亡するとミイラを収めた棺桶(かんおけ)の顔の部分にあてがったものである。似顔絵は死後描かれるものもあったとされている。技法としてはエンカウスティック（蝋画）が用いられた。初期キリスト教時代になると、板絵は、とりわけビザンティン文化圏でイコン（聖画像）として発達した。イコンは宗教的な信仰と儀式に深く結び付いたもので、したがって、たび重なる聖画像論争および聖画像破壊運動の対象とされ、その普及は妨げられた。後世、15世紀のロシア教会の修道士ルブリョフは、濃密な色彩と叙情に富む作品を残してわずかにイコンの命脈を保った。中世初期の絵画的表現としては、板絵よりむしろ各種の壁画および彩飾写本のほうが優位を占めた。この写本に用いられた赤い飾り文字のことを、ラテン語のミニウムminium（鉛丹）にちなんでミニアチュールminiatureとよんだのが、のちしだいに写本の小さな挿絵の意味にも用いられるようになり、やがて細密画という概念として定着した。15世紀に制作された『ベリー公のいとも豪華なる時祷書(じとうしょ)』は豪華絢爛(けんらん)とした細密画の傑作で、フランス絵画史上の至宝とされている。

　12世紀になって、イタリアで板絵の復興が始められる。それは主としてアンテペンディウムantependium（祭壇の前飾り。もともとは祭壇前部の垂布(たれぬの)をいうが、板絵またはレリーフによるものもある）やレターベルretabel（祭壇後部の衝立(ついたて)）として、祭壇と密接に結び付いたものであった。アルプスの北ではやや遅れて、13世紀に板絵の復興が図られる。ルネサンス期を迎えると、イタリアでは板絵よりむしろ壁画のほうが絵画の主流となるが、フランドル地方およびドイツでは、今日のタブローの概念につながる板絵が技法、素材（絵の具）、表現内容ともに飛躍的に開発された。その主要な表現形式に祭壇画があるが、なかでも木製の扉式祭壇Flügelaltarに描かれた板絵は、15、16世紀のフランドル地方およびドイツで隆盛を極めた。これは、中央の部分で観音開きになる祭壇の扉の、両翼・表裏に描かれたもので、扉はしばしば二重になったものもあり、また一翼が複数の画面にくぎられたものもある。ファン・アイク兄弟の『ガンの祭壇画』や、グリューネワルトの『イーゼンハイム祭壇画』はその傑作として知られている。そして板絵はやがて祭壇を離れ、対幅となり独立した一点のタブローとなって、歴史、宗教、人物、肖像、自画像、風景などの各主題を追求していくこととなる。15世紀のなかばを過ぎるころ、イタリアのマンテーニャ、ヤコポ・ベッリーニらによって、板と並行して、木枠に布を張ったカンバス（画布）が使われ始めた。しかし北方では16世紀になっても板がもっぱら愛好された。

　当時、板絵に一般的に用いられた絵の具はテンペラで、乾くのが速く、画面がかさかさするので、樹脂、あまに油のワニスを塗って留め、輝きを保たせた。一方、油彩は、絵の具を溶く媒剤に油を用いる方法で、テンペラに比べて色彩に透明度と光沢が得られること、色を並置し、重ね合わせても混じり合わないことで大きな利点がある。画家で美術史家でもあるバザーリは、油彩の発明をファン・アイク兄弟の功績であると主張したが、今日ではこの説は否定されている。とはいえ、油彩を用いて描いたもっとも優れた最初の絵は、紛れもなく兄弟の作であって、とくに兄弟の合作であろうと推定される『ガンの祭壇画』は、その奥行のある空間構成と真に迫る対象描写によって、油彩画の特質をいかんなく発揮している。同時にこの祭壇画は、宗教的な人物や情景を描きながら、そこに後世、人物画、風景画、静物画、室内画などに分化していく近代絵画の諸要素がみごとに先取りされている。

　油彩は、初めのうち、まずテンペラで下地を描いてその上にさらに油絵の具を重ねることが多かった。しかし、のちにこうした下地づくりは廃止され、画面に直接油絵の具を塗る、いわゆるプリマ描きalla primaが試みられるようになり、これが一般に普及していった。この油彩画法は15世紀のイタリアで高く評価され、アントネッロ・ダ・メッシーナは、イタリアでこの画法を用いた最初の画家として知られている。こうしてしだいに画布に油彩で描くタブローのジャンルが開拓され、これが時代とともに絵画の代表的な方法として定着してくる。

　こうして成立したタブローは、ルネサンス以後の美術の主流として歴史を刻んでいくのであるが、そこでの第一義的な課題は、「世界と人間の発見」（ヤコブ・ブルックハルト）と定義されるルネサンスの理念を反映して、形象の理路整然とした把握と、その感覚的に精密な平面上での再現にあった。この課題を解決するためには二つのことがとくに重要である。第一は形象を形象として存立させている空間を正確に秩序づけることであり、第二は形象を形象として現前させている光を的確に色彩に置き換えることである。平面上における空間表現の方法は、遠近法としてすでに前5世紀のギリシアの画家アガタルコスらによって先鞭(せんべん)がつけられているが、これが理論的に考究され確立されてくるのはルネサンス期においてであった。ブルネレスキやアルベルティは遠近法の数理的構造を明らかにし、マサッチョ、ウッチェロ、レオナルド・ダ・ビンチ、ラファエッロらはこれを精力的に研究して優れた成果をあげた。ドイツの画家デューラーは理論と実作によって、遠近法をアルプス以北にもたらした偉大な存在であった。17世紀バロックの時代になると、ルネサンスの新しい精神はアルプスを越えてヨーロッパ諸国に波及する。このいわば諸国民の美術の時代を迎えて、タブローはますます隆盛を極めるが、イタリアのカラバッジョ、スペインのエル・グレコおよびベラスケス、ベルギーのルーベンス、オランダのレンブラント、フランスのプーサンらは、それぞれ明暗の対比、動的な構成、色彩の純化、古典回帰などを武器としてルネサンスの絵画に修正を企てつつ、新しい空間表現をもたらした画家として記憶される。

　一方、色彩表現、とくに形象の感覚的な材質描写は、ファン・アイク兄弟の衣鉢を継いでフランドル地方を中心に進められ、とくに17世紀のオランダにおいて発展した室内画、静物画、風景画では、精緻(せいち)な材質描写がほとんどトロンプ・ルイユ（だまし絵）として推し進められている。もともと裕福な商人を芸術のパトロンとするフランドル地方では、材質感の正確な描き分けは画家の技量の見せどころであり、これが光を的確に色彩に置き換えることのできる素材（油彩）の発明を促したのである。そして油彩の発明は、光に対する画家の感覚をますます鋭敏なものにしていったということができる。絶対王制の時代からフランス大革命を経てナポレオンの時代に至る絵画は、その前半がロココ調の雅宴画、後半が古典主義絵画と相反する理念を反映しているが、古典主義と対立したロマン派の絵画をも含めて、歴史画や寓意画を主流とするいわゆるグラン・パンチュール（大絵画）の時代であった。18世紀フランスのシャルダンは、この時代にあってフランドル絵画の伝統に学んだ単純な静物画によって名をなした画家であるが、彼は、物が単一の光の反映によって孤立して存在しているのではなく、物と物との間の光の交流によって相互に依存しあって成り立っていることを発見した先覚者であった。

［野村太郎］

近代絵画の展開

シャルダンの実作上のこの発見は、ロマン派に続いて写実主義を唱えたクールベ、大絵画を大胆に否定して自然光に注目したマネを媒介として、やがて印象派美学の中心をなす外光への認識を促すこととなる。とくに「画家は目だ」とするモネは、「自然界の物理的な自我」（ヘルムホルツ）である光が網膜に及ぼす印象を余すところなく色彩に置き換えることを描画の目的とした。リアリズムの究極に迫るといわれる印象派は、こうしてルネサンス以来の絵画が目ざした課題の一つの頂点に上り詰めたということができる。

　印象派以後、今日に至るまでの絵画は、以上に述べた従来の絵画に対する批判、修正、克服の足跡を多かれ少なかれ刻んでいる。ベル・エポックのパリで学んだ北欧の画家ムンクは、「もはや読書する男たちや編物をする女たちのいる室内画を描くべきではない。感じ、悩み、愛する、生きた人間を描かねばならない」と決意し、従来の視覚芸術では取り上げることのなかった死とエロスのような内面世界を表現することによって、後続の世代に大きな影響力をもった。彼が内面的なテーマの設定にあたって、一点一点の作品にタブローとしての完結性を求めると同時に、それらを一連の「生のフリーズ（帯状装飾）」としてまとめようとする意図をもっていたことも注目される。ムンクを先達としてドイツでは、20世紀の初頭、反リアリズムの立場にたつ表現主義の運動がきわめて活発に展開された。

　印象派美学の修正の立場にたつゴーギャンの感化を受けた画家モーリス・ドニは、「絵画とは、軍馬や裸婦やその他なにがそこに描かれているにせよ、ある秩序によって統(す)べられた色彩に覆われた一枚の平面である」と定義して、改めて絵画の平面性を確認するとともに、その平面の自律性について注目すべき問題提起を行った。絵画は、主題よりもなによりも、画家が主体性をもって配置配合した色彩と形態について、まず見るべきだということである。ドニの定義は、セザンヌからキュビスムへと発展する理念のなかで、さらに徹底化が図られている。もともと遠近法は、単一の視点から見た外界の体系化にすぎないのであって、それによって平面上にもたらされるのは空間のイリュージョンにほかならない。そのようにして描かれたタブローは、いわば壁にあけられた単なる穴、第二の窓にも等しいものである。絵画が基本的に平面であるとすれば、その平面を錯視によって立体的に見せるのではなく、逆に立体を主体的に平面に還元する新たな方法が考案されてしかるべきである。この方法は、印象派が行ったように光の印象を他律的に色彩に置き換えることによっては達成されない。むしろ対象に対する画家の複眼的な観察から得られた色彩形態を、画家の感性と造形の論理に照らして画面に再構成するのが問題である。この認識にたつキュビストは、対象の分析と再構成による自律的な表現世界をタブローに求めた。

　ところで、従来の美術史では、たとえばボッシュ、ブリューゲル、ゴヤ、ルドン、アンソールなどの幻想表現は、大絵画時代のシャルダンのように、歴史の王道を外れた例外とみなされがちであった。しかしこのような幻想表現がけっして特殊ではなく、万人が意識下の世界に抑圧している願望や欲望の白昼夢であるとして、この意識下のイメージの宝庫を探ろうというのがシュルレアリスムである。ここには従来の絵画の手法を踏襲しているかにみえるものもある。たとえばダリやマグリットのトロンプ・ルイユである。しかし彼らはそれによって従来とは逆に非合理世界を開扉しようとしている。「芸術的な目的に使われる限り、すべての素材は平等だ」として各種の混合技法を用いたのはクレーであるが、ダダおよびシュルレアリスムでは従来のタブローの概念にない素材を、しかも反芸術的に用いている。抽象絵画の立場では、タブローの完結性が疑われている。絵画は首尾一貫した表現世界を一方的に見る者に与えるのではなく、見る者を未知な色彩形態の体験のただなかに立たせようとするのである。アクション・ペインティングでは、画面を描く行為の場と規定している。

　絵画はタブローの時代を過ぎて新しい概念を探っているといえよう。

［野村太郎］