@freemo Compared to the splendor of light colour and shadows in the European images, the Japanese one does look poor.
Is it a gravure, a reproduction? (the other ones being oils, one of, very limited audiences art).
I would mention the "Great Wave off Kanagawa" as a counterpoint, as an artistically brilliant piece, which at the same time was reproduced in quantity and reached a lot more people. Slightly later than the examples above (maybe 40 or so years later).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Wave_off_Kanagawa
Japanese printmakers were outstanding, the colour and details are superb.
@design_RG Excellent share... ruins the joke a bit, but jokes are sometimes intentionally naive :)
Though there is still a sort of simplicity to japanese art. Some may say it takes less talent, I dunno, I just see it as its own style and in some ways even more beautiful for its simplicity and uniqueness.
@freemo @design_RG Oh yeah, I forgot:
o Ever wonder why there are barely any facial features (or much of anything but the bare minimum to be a human body) on most anime characters? Say hi to Zen again, inviting you the viewer to accept your mind's eye to "fill in the blanks" like the slight wrinkles and damage from surviving teen acne below Rintarou Okabe's left cheekbone. You don't see them? No, don't LOOK closer, as that would be getting in your own way as Taoism helps one avoid. Don't TRY to see, ALLOW yourself to see...