JAPAN
alcove picture was primarily an alcove ornament. It had to take its place in a decorative scheme; had to harmonise with, not to eclipse, its surroundings; to accompany them, not to stand apart from them. The European or American hangs his pictures with regard simply to the wall space at his disposal and the direction of his lights. The picture is the sole object of his consideration; everything is sacrificed to it. He builds a special gallery for the exhibition of these treasures, if he is so fortunate as to possess a sufficient number, and he takes care that nothing in the gallery shall clash with its prime purpose, the display of the paintings. But a Japanese never shows more than one picture, or one set of pictures, at a time. If he has a large collection, he keeps them in his fire-proof storeroom, and gives to each in turn a temporary place in the alcove recess. Hanging there, a picture must satisfy the same canon as the objects associated with it: the eye must find equal pleasure in regarding it from every part of the room. Thus it is at once radically differentiated from the picture of Occidental art, the picture which must be seen from one special point of view and with light coming from one fixed direction.
Thus, also, linear perspective and cast shadows are necessarily excluded. Vanishing points, horizon lines, and such things mean that only one aspect of a picture is delightful; every other, painful. The Japanese artist perceived these things intuitively. It has been said of him reproachfully that he remained perpetually ignorant of perspective, and that he never discovered the theory of shadows. Certainly it is true that his knowledge of linear perspective continued to be very imperfect until modern times; but
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