Question

Compare and contrast non-Western and European painting. For example, explain the attitude of traditional Chinese painters towards space, the picture surface, ambiguity and inscriptions. How does this differ from paintings done by Western European painters? Select two works of art as examples in your response

Answer 1

(Answer) Paintings: Picasso's Guernica and Yoshida Hiroshi’s Avenue of cherry trees.

Picasso's Guernica: In the year 1937, the Nazi’s bombed a town called Guernica in Spain. Spanish artist Pablo Picasso severely criticised this attack through his work. He painted the Guernica in order to condemn these Nazi actions.

The painting depicts the suffering of people. Furthermore, the perpetrators are depicted as brutish forces. The painting serves as a mirror of war and has a certain “ugly” tone to it. The painting has the elements strewn across the canvas in a chaotic manner, just like the scene of a war might be. This is a revolutionary painting.

Picasso’s is surrealism. The brutishness of the perpetrators is depicted as them being animals. The painting is monochromatic and dark. Perhaps, it was a way to bring out the lamenting of the artist.

Hiroshi’s Cherry trees: This was a painting that was completed in between two major world wars. Japan was a country with a major involvement at that time. Yet, the painter chooses to completely ignore the goings on and focus on a beautiful setting. This painting has no political message or revolutionary cause like a few western paintings did at the time. Rather, it would serve as a sanctuary from all the chaos of war, giving the viewer a much-needed serenity that reality did not offer at the time.

Hiroshi’s block print: this painting is congested with details in watercolours. These details add realistic layers and not mere depictions or insinuations, yet it would help take the viewer away from reality. Whereas, Picasso’s painting is full of depiction and it would remind the viewer about the terrible atrocities at that time.