Edo – Art in Japan 1615–1868 - Hardcover

Singer, Robert

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0300077963 ISBN 13: 9780300077964

Publisher: Yale University Press, 1998

Synopsis

The Western understanding of traditional Japanese art is almost wholly based on works from the Edo period, an era of splendor and innovation in the arts. One hallmark of Edo art is the lack of distinction between "high art" and "craft": an artist was as likely to paint on lacquer, ceramic, or textile as on paper or silk. This gorgeous book presents examples of Edo art in all media and across social boundaries -- from paintings of nature and city life on gold-leaf screens to wood-block images of Kabuki actors and courtesans, from Zen paintings and calligraphy to spectacular helmets and armor for the samurai, from brilliantly colored porcelains to textiles made for Noh theater, Kyogen comedy, and affluent women of the merchant class.Works are grouped thematically into such areas as festivals, warrior arts, religious beliefs, travel, play, and courtly traditions, and essays written by experts in the field address these various themes, placing the works in the context of the times. The book also provides entries on the individual objects reproduced.

About this title

Review

Edo: Art in Japan 1615-1868 is the lavish catalogue of an exhibition organised on a scale never before attempted even in Japan. There, the art of the Edo period is considered too vast a subject for a single show. Edo, the old name for Tokyo, has come to represent the two- and-a-half centuries when the shogun's government intentionally isolated Japan from the rest of the world. Much of the huge wealth generated by this intensely hierarchical and inward-looking society was devoted to the creation of art and status items for the military rulers and rich merchants who supported them, with craftsmen producing works of extraordinary elegance and inventiveness.

Besides scholarly descriptions of the objects, highly original essays by major art historians explore the six themes covered by the exhibition: ornament (or style); samurai; work; religion and festivals; travel, landscape, and nature; and entertainment. The vibrancy of a sophisticated urban population intent on pleasure suffuses the entire exhibition, including, for example, a number of exquisite screens bright with gold that pulse with scenes of daily life in Edo. Among the most striking groups of objects are war helmets, functional, but given the most whimsical forms: a butterfly, seashell, an upturned bowl. The superb quality of the objects and scholarship of the writing make this a landmark publication in Japanese art.--John Stevenson

Synopsis

A collection of examples of Edo art grouped thematically into areas such as festivals, warrior arts, religious beliefs, travel, play, and courtly traditions. Essays address these themes, placing the works into their contexts. Also provided are entries on the individual objects reproduced.

About this edition

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0300077963
• ISBN 13: 9780300077964
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 480