Our Lineage
— When Japanese Art Changed How Color Was Seen
SUPCHO approaches painting as an act of sensing rather than depiction. Landscapes, seasons, shared emotions, memory, and music that resonates are first perceived as color, then quietly placed without drawing or representation.
There is a conscious resistance to line and imagery. Once something is intentionally drawn, it risks becoming artificial. Instead, SUPCHO allows instinctive placement of color to guide the work.
Rooted in Japanese painting traditions, this practice values restraint, layering, and time—allowing presence to surface naturally from within the material.
When Japanese Art Changed the Way the West Looked at Color
— Our Materials, Our Lineage
Our work is rooted in Nihonga, a tradition of Japanese painting that places deep respect on material, time, and process.
In the late 19th century, as Japan opened to the world, Western artists encountered Japanese art during a period of searching and transition. These encounters did not prescribe a new direction. Instead, they quietly suggested alternative ways of seeing—ways that many artists found deeply compelling.
This cultural exchange later came to be known as Japonisme.
Encounters, Not Influence
Artists such as Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet engaged with Japanese art in highly personal ways.
Van Gogh studied Japanese prints with intensity, copying them by hand in order to better understand their use of color, line, and composition. What drew him was not novelty, but clarity—color without heavy shadow, form without rigid perspective.
Monet, surrounded by Japanese prints in his home, absorbed their quiet balance over time. His garden at Giverny and the calm rhythm of his later paintings reflect a way of observing nature that resonates with Japanese aesthetics, without directly imitating them.
They were part of a broader artistic conversation rather than followers of a single source.
A Shared Moment in Art History
Beyond Monet and Van Gogh, many artists found resonance in Japanese art during this period.
Edgar Degas explored unexpected cropping and viewpoints.
James McNeill Whistler pursued restraint, harmony, and the expressive use of space.
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec embraced flat color and line in his graphic works.
Gustav Klimt dissolved the boundary between painting and decoration.
Paul Gauguin moved toward symbolic color and spiritual presence.
Each responded differently, guided by their own questions and contexts. Japanese art did not provide answers—it offered possibilities.