Asian and Greek Art Exhibitions in Metropolitan Art Museum

Art as we know of it today would have not been the same if it weren’t for the artists, techniques, and materials that were developed in history that would transpire and influence the world of art. There were two particular eras in history that massively contributed and changed the way art and things were made specifically art of classical Greece and later Asian art. During the time period of ancient Greece specifically around the start of the Aegean bronze age around 3100 BCE, Greek artwork would be transformed by the usage of bronze. However, it wasn’t until the fifth century BCE, where Greece adapted a particular technique called the red-figure technique that would end up changing the way paintings, and certain materials were being made. In addition, one of the best-known red figure artists that created incredible works of art that ended up being a signature technique in Greek art was Euphronios and his creation of the Krater. Another important era in art history was later Asian art. Specifically in the early 17th century, a man named Chojiro created a new technique for crafting tea bowls that are significant in Japanese culture especially when it comes to their traditions of having tea ceremonies. Chojiro created a specific tea bowl called the Yugure and a whole bunch of other traditional Japanese tea bowls that became an essential part of the Asian culture.

Between the eras of the 14th and 15th century BCE, black-and red-figure techniques were used in ancient Greece in order to decorate fine pottery that were fulfilled for everyday purposes. For both techniques, the vessels would be first shaped by the potter on a wheel and once the shape and body of the vessels were dried, the potter would then assemble them and combined the joints with a slip (which is a more liquid form of clay). The red-figure technique involves the decorative motifs on the vases to remain the same colour of the clay which would be the background of the vase that would be filled in with a slip as figures could then be articulated with glaze lines or washes of glaze applied with a brush. In Euphronios’ creation of the Krater, he uses the red-figure technique in order to demonstrate articulated precise imagery of the death of Sarpedon by highlighting the shapes of the figures by leaving them unpainted only to have them revealed through the underlaying of the clay body. He would then hand paint the reserved areas of the Krater with a fine brush dipped in liquid slip. Euphronios’ Krater is a large ceramic vessel that measures 46 meters in height and 55 centimeters in diameter. It is decorated on the front with a scene depicting the death of Sarpedon, who is attended by Hypnos and Thanatos with the god Hermes looking on. The attention of the piece consists of a scene from Homer’s Iliad. On the vessel, Euphronios chose to paint the death of Sarpedon who according to Homer, was the son of Zeus and a mortal woman who was killed by the Greek warrior Patroklus while fighting for the trojans. Also in the scene, Sarpedon is carried away by Hypnos and Thanatos who are the twin gods of sleep and death, as the god Hermes watches on. Euphronios captures the scene in which the warrior is being carried off to the underworld, which is considered to be the land of the dead. On the vessel, Euphronios had created a balanced composition of verticals and horizontals that takes the shape of the vessel. The bands of decoration which can be seen on the edge of the top and bottom of the vessel appear to be an intricate design of patterns of flowers and leaves. Below the bands of decoration and centered around the entirety of the vessel is the scene of the dead fighter’s body, which appears to levitate in the gentle grasp of the other warriors. The handles of the vessel are shaped as inward-curving lines which mirrors the arching backs and extended wings of Hypnos and Thanatos in the scene. In his artwork, Euphronios was also able to portray the elaborate details of their clothing, masculinity, and facial features with the use of a fine tip brush. On the contrast with Euphronios’ krater, Chojiro’s YUGURE is considered to be one of the finest surviving tea bowls that was ever created as it was created by Chojiro, who was the founder of the Raku family of potters. Raku is known as being a unique technique that was used in order to make the Yugure which consists of a hand-built, low fired, red ceramic. It is also a type of ceramic that is very recognized in Japanese tea ceremonies. Unlike the red-figure technique, raku is a lightweight glazed earthenware that is molded by hand rather than on a potter’s wheel. The clay that is used, can be described as rough, unpretentious, covered in an opaque glaze. The Raku technique enables for the tea bowl to have a red hue that is an effect created by the glaze. It can also be noticed how the artwork has a lively surface texture that evokes a gentle landscape almost resembling the illumination of a sunset.

Euphronios’ Krater with the death of Sarpedon, was created in Athens around 515 BCE by the potter Euxitheos and it was decorated and painted by Euphronios. Euphronios was an ancient Greek vase painter and potter from Athens Greece in the late 6th century BC. He is known as one of the most important red-figure technique artists as his work transitioned from late archaic to early classical art. It was during this period which is often referred to the golden age of Athens that significant achievements were made in attic vase painting also known as the red-figure technique. The vessel was used as a punch bowl as they would mix potent wine with water during a symposium which was a gathering of rich and powerful men. In the red-figure technique which was used by Euphronios in order for him to create the Krater, it was invented around 530 BC as it then gradually replaced the black-figure technique as artists recognized the possibilities that came with drawing forms, rather than creating those forms with incisions. In today’s generation, the Krater is still in good condition however it has been through a rough journey and scandal in terms of where the unique piece of art belongs. According to the New York Times, Euphronios’ Krater was generally believed to have been discovered in December 1971 when tomb robbers decided to illegally dig on private land in the Greppe Sant’Angelo area of the Etruscan cemetery of Cerveteri. The tomb robbers then had decided to sell the artwork to an antiquity’s smuggler named Giacomo Medici for the price of 88,000$. It was then that Giacomo decided to in turn to have arranged for the piece to be smuggled into Switzerland, where he sold the Krater to another convicted antiquities dealer named Robert Hecht for the price of 350,000$. It wasn’t until the year after in 1972, that Hecht had decided to tell the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City of the existence of the Krater and the museum bought it from him for the price of 1$ million dollars. However, Italy wanted complete ownership of the piece considering how it was illegally excavated from their region. After much debate and investigations, on February 3 2006, the metropolitan came to an agreement with Italy and returned the Krater back to its origins on where it was found. Euphronios’ Krater arrived in Italy on January 18, 2008 where it was put on display at the exhibition Nostoi: Capolavori Ritrovati and even to today’s date, the Krater continues to be put in view in the permanent collection of the Villa Giulia in Rome Italy. Whereas, Chojiro’s YUGURE (also known as twilight translated in English) was created in the late 16th century BC during the Momoyama period. According to the Japanese culture, it is said that the actual originator of raku was Cho-yu, also known as Chojiro who was the son of Korean tile-maker Ameya Yeisei. After his father’s death, Chojiro made sure to carry on his father’s legacy by taking over the family business and it was then where he met a man named Rikyu, who guided him to use his knowledge of forming and baking clay to make tea bowls for tea ceremonies. From then, Chojiro hand crafted using old methods, to individually create his tea bowls that contributed and became well known for Japanese culture.

Euphronios’ Krater was created using the red-figure technique that would require a specific type of clay that had to be first shaped by the potter on a wheel then it would be assembled using a more liquid form of clay in order to hold the shape of the piece together. Whereas, the type of clay that was used to make Chojiro’s Yugure is a clay that is rough and covered with an opaque glaze that requires for it to be shaped and handled by hand instead of using a potter’s wheel. While Euphronios used a slip to mantle the different pieces and body of the work together, Chojiro only used the clay to shape and create his tea bowls and the glaze texture that is apparent in the clay, gave the clay a fine ceramic finishing. One similarity that they share is that both artworks appear to have a similar dark hue. While the sunset hue is more apparent in Chojiro’s work, the same contrast of colours with the yellow against the black background of the clay appears to be the sun rising in Euphronios’ Krater. It can also be noticed how in the Krater the texture appears to be smoother and perfectly glazed while the Yugure it appears to not have the same smooth texture and glossy glaze finish. While the presentation of Euphronios’ Krater is more intricate due to his detailed fine brush painting of the death of Sarpedon whereas Chojiro’s Yugure is plainer in colour, shape, and details. Another similarity between the two works of art is that both were used as utensils for drinking purposes. While Chojiro’s Yugure was used for Japanese tea ceremonies Euphronios’ Krater was used more so as a vessel for mixing water and wine. They both adapted new transformative techniques in order to create their artworks. While Euphronios used the red-figure technique that consists of the decorative motifs on the vases to remain the same colour of the clay which would be the background of the vase. Chojiro adapted the Raku technique in order to create his tea bowls which involved a hand-built, low fired, red ceramic.

To conclude, both artworks contributed to many lives in history as they both played a significant role in the adaptation of both the Asian culture and Greek culture. While Euphronios’ Krater was created before Chojiro created his tea bowl the Yugure in the 17th century, Euphronios’ invention of the red-figure technique influenced many artists to create their own artworks. Just like Euphronios, Chojiro inspirited the Asian culture when it came to him mastering the raku technique in order to create his tea bowls that became primitive to Japanese tea ceremonies. Ultimately, both artworks are very different when it comes to their shape, color, and meaning however, both are similar in the way they made major contributions to both of their different cultures and for the many generations of artists that came after.