Yamato-e Painting

Thematic Essay Categories

• Recent Additions
• All Thematic Essays
• African Art
• Central Africa
• Eastern Africa
• Southern Africa
• Western Africa
• American Art
• Colonial Art
• Nineteenth Century
• Twentieth Century
• Ancient Near Eastern Art
• Art of the Americas
• Asian Art
• China
• Japan
• Korea
• South & Southeast Asia
• Byzantine Art
• Egyptian Art
• European Art
• Renaissance
• Seventeenth & Eighteenth Centuries
• Nineteenth Century
• Twentieth Century
• Greek and Roman Art
• Islamic Art
• Early Period
• Medieval Period
• Later Period
• Medieval Art
• Oceanic/Pacific Art
• Prehistory

Sort Thematic Essays by:

Related:

Timelines (4)

• • Japan, 1400–1600 A.D.
• • Japan, 1600–1800 A.D.
• • Japan, 500–1000 A.D.
• • Japan, 1000–1400 A.D.

Thematic Essays (8)

• • Art of the Edo Period (1615–1868 A.D.)
• • Heian Period (794–1185)
• • The Kano School of Painting
• • List of Rulers: Japan
• • Painting Formats in East Asian Art
• • Rinpa Painting Style
• • Woodblock Prints in the Ukiyo–e Style
• • Work and Leisure: 18th–Century Korean Genre Painting

Maps (5)

• • East Asia Map, 1000–1400 A.D.
• • East Asia Map, 1400–1600 A.D.
• • East Asia Map, 1600–1800 A.D.
• • World Map, 500–1000 A.D.
• • World Map, 1600–1800 A.D.

Index Terms (14)

Geography/Place

• • Asia, Japan

Material and Technique

• • Drawing, Ink
• • Drawing, Ink, East Asia
• • Painting, Ink on Paper
• • Painting, Ink on Paper, East Asia
• • Painting, Ink on Paper, East Asia, Japan
• • Scroll, Paper

Object

• • Religious Art, Shinto, Scroll
• • Scroll

Subject Matter/Theme

• • Floral Motif
• • Floral Motif, Painting
• • Literature and Literary Connections
• • Literature and Literary Connections, Japanese Poetry
• • Religious Art, Shinto

The term yamato-e, which means "Japanese pictures," was first used in the Heian period to distinguish works painted in a Japanese style from those executed in the Chinese manner, or kara-e. Traditional yamato-e is characterized by native subject matter, often taken from literature, and themes associated with famous places or the four seasons. Stylistically it features striking compositions, the frequent use of flat planes of rich color, and a number of codified pictorial devices such as fukinuki yatai ("room with roof blown away").

Citation for this page

Department of Asian Art. "Yamato-e Painting". In Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/yama/hd_yama.htm (October 2003)

Suggested Further Reading(s) Find these publications in a library

Akiyama, Terukazu. Japanese Painting. New York: Rizzoli, 1977.
Kuroda, Taizo., et al. Worlds Seen and Imagined. New York: Asia Society Galleries, 1995.
Mason, Penelope. History of Japanese Art. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2004.
Murase, Miyeko. Bridge of Dreams: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection of Japanese Art. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000.
Murase, Miyeko. Masterpieces of Japanese Screen Painting: The American Collections. New York: G. Braziller, 1990.

Learn more on www.metmuseum.org

Asian Art: Features & Exhibitions; Permanent Collection; Online Resources (links); Books in the Met Store