art of east asia set 1

the first piece i would like to talk about is the Descent of Amida and the twenty five Bosatsu. This piece feels very magical. It gives off a feeling that the gods do exist. Down in the bottom right hand corner it looks like a guy in his home possibly worshipping. The angle of the photo is pretty cool it reminds me of the camera angle where you have sort of an overhead view and the subjects are racing across the screen. The figures on the right all seem like people which look very small. The gods are descending on what look like clouds. However, the clouds are painted in a way that isn't puffy. As a matter of fact, the clouds are painted more in a way that look like roads. Roads are things made by men so in a way it's like a road of clouds that were made by these gods. Also, i like the way the head of the larger god has ray like lines coming from around the head. It's as if that god is the sun and as we all know, the sun is the center of the universe so it could be symbolic of him being the central god. Overall, i just love the angle of the shot and how it's painted.

The next piece i wanted to talk about is Monkeys Worshiping a Frog.  I find this painting very interesting. I kind of don't know what to make of it. However, i do know that asians tend to hold frogs as a sort of idol. There are some frogs that are sculpted out of jade depicted with money on it's back and holding a gold coin in it's mouth. Perhaps the frog is a symbol of wealth and prosperity. If that were the case then these painting sort of seems a little greedy. In the photo there are rabbits writing, a fox wearing clothes, a monkey worshiping, a monkey that seems ashamed, and a fox. It's as if the frog is the best of all the animals. Maybe the painter was a greedy man who thought money came before all. I like the way the strokes of the brush look. It's this style that has always drawn me to asian art. However, i really don't know what to make of this picture. i guess i just find it funny that the frog is probably the weakest out of all these animals as well as the least intelligent; but it is the one that seems to be getting worshiped. i guess all i can say about this painting is that it's ironic. Monkey's are supposed to be one of the most intelligent animals but it's worshiping a frog. maybe that's why the other monkey looks ashamed. haha what a funny picture.