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WhatdoestheEastmeantotheWest?Onourinspirationalget-togethers
17
ExhibitionJourneytoEdo.
JerzyLeskowicz,National
design:JacekGburczyk,
Japaneseukiyo-eprints
Włodarczyk,Krzysztof
fromthecollectionof
February-May2017,
MuseuminWarsaw,
KarolinaChyziak-
Czajka
ill.9.
many?Afterall,wegrewupinanentirelydifferent
traditionandwithadissimilarwayoflookingat
theworldlYet,inthiscase,asWestmeetsEast,the
viewerbecomesenchantedandcanatleasttosome
extentunderstandthevalueofthisothernessl
ComparedtoEuropeanart,theartoftheFar
Eastischaracterisedbyagreaterdegreeoftra-
ditionalismdespiteitsmultitudeofmovements
andschools,meaningthataspecificrepertoireof
formsisrepeatedinafundamentallyconstantman-
neroverthecenturieslLookingatFarEasternart
throughtheprismofEuropeanart-inwhicheach
periodbringsnewstyleswhichdifferdrastically
fromearlierones,createdunderthepressuretoin-
novateinaquestfornewformsofexpressionand
newwaystoviewartandtheworld-weseecon-
siderablygreatercontinuityandorderlThechanges
transpiringinWesternartintheEarlyModernpe-
riodwereswiftandsignificant,muchmoreabrupt
andbringingmuchmoreheftyformalshiftsthan
intheartoftheFarEastl
FromtheRenaissancetotheendofthe19th
century,Westernartistsfocussedtheirattention
mainlyonsearchingforperfectandfaithfulmeans
ofreproducinghumanappearanceandtheworld
arounduslInthepast,acharacteristicfeatureof
Europeanartwasrealism,adesiretofaithfullycon-
veyspace,volumeandcolourinapaintinglAgainst
sucheffortsandtheiroutcomes,FarEasternartmay
seemmuchmoreconventionalandschematicasit
repeatsestablishedpatternsoverandoverlArtists
fromtheEastunderstoodandexperiencednature
inacontemplativemanner,forcenturiesemploying
thesametechniquesandtools-abrush,inkand
watercolourlTheymadetheirworksusingatech-
niquewhichEuropeanartistsreservedforstudies
orpreparatorysketchesandnotforfinishedworksl
This“sketchiness”intheworkofFarEasternar-
tistsmakesitpossiblefortheviewertofeelpartof
thecreativeprocess,asifwatchingtheworkarise,
whichiscertainlyappealingl
InterestintheFarEasternarttraditionmay
alsobepartiallyattributedtoafeelingofexhaus-
tion,discomfortorintolerancewithrespectto
contemporaryartlThisappliesnotonlytothe
generalaudienceorculture“consumers”butalso
tohighly-informedindividualsandevenrespected
arthistorianslInsupportofthistheory,letusquote
WiesławJuszczak,whosaid,“certainly,walking
intoagallery,listeningtomusicorsittinginathea-
tre,Ialwaysverystronglyandvividlyfeelthatthe
phenomenaIencounterarenotthosewhichIhave
comefor;thattheyarejustplayingthepartlToput
itanotherway:theypretendtobethethingthey
oughttobelThisallowsmetosaythatweseeapro-
liferationofsuchCworksofart’whichpretendtobe
artinplacestypicallyintendedforitl”7
WhatattractsustoJapaneseartisthemeticu-
lousnessandsinceritywithwhichtheartistap-
proacheseventhesmallest,humblestthinglAbox,
abowloraminiaturefigurecarvedfromivoryor
woodastoundstheeyewithitsperceptivenessof
theworldanditsbewitchingdecorativeness,itssty-
listicsoftenimbuedwithasubtlesenseofhumourl
7Juszczak(1995:103)l
