Detail from Taishokan Narrative (early seventeenth century), manuscript dismantled and pasted onto a folding screen; ink, gold and color on paper. Private collection, Japan.
934 Schermerhorn Hall
No time period in Japan saw as rich, varied and monumental a visual genre of storytelling as the seventeenth century. Ranging from small fans to long handscrolls and large folding screens, the hundreds if not thousands of pictorial narratives created in this most historicizing century of Japanese history went unnoticed in art history until around twelve years ago. Why was this the case, and how has the field changed? This lecture addresses the rich engagement with history, past visualities and unknown cultures in this era of change and emerging socio-political stability, while touching upon recent research trends, and changing paradigms in Japanese art history.