Question 1.
Illustrate with examples the difference in the nature of Eastern and Western paintings?
Question 2.
What are the elements of ‘shanshui’? Explain in detail.
Question 3.
In what way is the participation of the viewer both physical and mental when he looks at a Chinese painting?
Question 4.
Who was the untutored genius who created a paradise and what is his contribution to art?
Answers
Answer 1:
The essential difference between Eastern and Western paintings is that the Eastern painting is not factual; it does not represent an actual view as a Western figurative painting does. It has a dimension of time. The viewer can ‘enter’ the painting and thereby the artist’s mind. The landscape is an inner one having spiritual and conceptual space. He gave the viewer various entry points to let him enjoy the journey from his perspective. Wu Daozi, the Chinese painter, was not satisfied with the emperor’s appreciation of his art. His art had a much deeper meaning which he wanted the viewer to comprehend by entering his mind. The European paintings were to be viewed from a specific angle and exactly the way the artist wanted you to see it.
Answer 2:
The Chinese painter brings out the concept of Shanshui in his work. Literally it means mountain and water. The mountain is symbolic of the male and the water is symbolic of’ the female element in creation. This is the fundamental notion of ‘Daoism’. In between there is the Middle Void where their interaction takes place and is also the space for man. Thus the Chinese painter’s landscape has a spiritual character. The author has compared the concept of ‘Shanshui’ with the yogic practice of ‘Pranayama’ breathe in, hold, breath out—the time of the suspension of breath is the void when meditation occurs. This middle void is crucial-as nothing can happen without it.
Answer 3:
The Chinese view of art is quite different from the European view. The Chinese artist does not paint a landscape from one point of view only. He writes to the viewer to participate in his landscape both physically and mentally. This mens that the viewer can enter the painting, not physically but mentally and spiritually. The participation in the Chinese paintings is not from a single point but from various points. The artist does not want you to borrow his eyes but he wants you to enter wholly through his mind. He creates a path for the viewer to travel it up and down and then back again. This requires the active participation on the part of the viewer who has to decide himself at what pace, he would travel through the painting —this participation is both physical and mental.
Answer 4:
‘Outsider art’ was mooted in 1940 by a French painter named Jean Dubuffet. It is the art created by those who have not received any formal training in art. India’s Nek Chand is an exponent of this genre and has won worldwide acclaim. He made a garden sculpted with stone and recycled material— that would be anything and everything from tin, broken bangles, to a sink to a broken down car. Any discarded material could be a work of art for Nek Chand which he took to dizzying heights. His art has been highly acclaimed worldwide — how a single man’s vision can make a difference and produce a unique art. UNESCO honoured him and his work has been displayed in the leading museums of Switzerland, Belgium, France and Italy.