The Painting of Early Mod. Life in Japan

What is genre painting in Japan? This question is the basis for a lecture course intended as an in-depth investigation of paintings produced ca. 1525–1650 that offer ostensibly straightforward representations of urban life in unification-era Japan. “Genre paintings” (fūzokuga) would not be defined as a modern category until the late 19th century, but a corpus of works produced by a diverse group of painters during a 125-year span nevertheless coalesces in their shared interest in such universal human experiences as work, faith, and play, and stand distinct from other categories of painting, such as imagined Chinese-style landscape, religious icons, or works depicting literary themes. Fūzokuga were also valorized and were the subject of theorization and reproduction after their 17th century heyday, particularly in their generative role for images of the “floating world,” ukiyo-e. The lectures will be shaped around one or two major examples each week, and will be supplemented by viewings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and other regional museums.