水墨画 - India ink paintings

Paintings in India ink are called sumie in Japanese. Sumie only use India ink and do not use any other pigments. Among sumie, paintings that use various techniques of shading and gradation are called suibokuga in Japanese. Shading and gradation can be obtained through changing the amount of water added to the ink. Ink painting, which was introduced from China to Japan in ancient times, became well-known in the Kamakura period (from 1185 to 1333), and then enjoyed great popularity in the Muromachi period (from 1333 to 1568). It is well-known that a Zen priest named Sesshu, who was actively engaged in India ink painting in the 15th and the 16th centuries, developed the Chinese style of India ink painting into a typically Japanese style of landscape painting that is called sansuiga. The subjects of suibokuga include people, flowers, and birds too.

他の色を使わず墨だけで描いた絵画を墨絵(すみえ)と言います。墨絵のうち、墨に加える水の量を加減することによる濃淡・ぼかしなどの技法を用いて描いたものをと呼んでいます。古代中国から日本に伝えられたは、鎌倉時代(1185年〜1333年)になって本格的に描かれるようになり、室町時代(1333年〜1568年)に全盛期を迎えました。15〜16世紀に活躍した禅僧雪舟(せっしゅう)は、中国の様式を発展させて「山水画(さんすいが)」と呼ばれる純日本風の風景画スタイルを築いたことで有名です。の題材としては、風景のほかに人物や花鳥などがあります。