News & Events

09/12/2024 | Evening Lecture by Jens Bartel

​Dr. Jens Bartel (Research Associate, Heidelberg University, Institute of East Asian Art History)
Conversations with Maruyama Ōkyo (1733–1795): Banshi, a Late-Eighteenth Century Diary
09/12/2024 | 18:15 | CATS R.010.01.05 | [Poster]

Situated somewhat between the various texts collectively known as garon, “treatises about painting,” and a zuihitsu-style personal diary, Banshi (Journal of Ten-Thousand Things) was written between 1765 and 1773 by Prince Abbot Yūjō on the shores of Lake Biwa. It stands as one of the most important contemporary documents on the painter Maruyama Ōkyo (1733–1795). This presentation aims to provide an overview of its contents beyond the brief quotations commonly found in art historical texts and to discuss selected entries that shed light on Maruyama Ōkyo’s attitudes, methods and aesthetic outlook, as well as some of the technical aspects of an 18th-century professional studio painting that Banshi records in astonishing detail—from painting techniques and the preparation of pigments and painting grounds such as paper and silk to the construction of folding screens and fusuma sliding doors, as well as the proper storage of materials.
Although only a small number of specific, identifiable paintings by Ōkyo are mentioned in Banshi, a recently rediscovered pair of folding screens—Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup—may correspond to a work described in an entry dated late 1769. The second part of this presentation will discuss this folding screen and outline some characteristics of Ōkyo’s figure painting. Given the large number of forgeries and questionable attributions to Ōkyo, this work serves as a curious case study of the numerous problems of authenticity that often remain unaddressed or unresolved.

Heinz Götze Visiting Professor: Julia Andrews

​We are excited to have Prof. Dr. Julia Andrews join us as the 15th Heinz Götze Visiting Professor for the winter semester. Julia Andrews is Distinguished University Professor Emerita and Academy Professor at Ohio State University. Together with Shuyu Kong and Shengtian Zheng, she edited the 2024 published volume ‘Art and Modernism in Socialist China. Unexplored International Encounters, 1949–1979.’ Students can anticipate her classes on ‘Art and Politics in Modern China’ and ‘Curating A Century in Crisis.’ Be sure to mark your calendars for her evening lecture on November 7, 2024, titled ‘Women Artists in Twentieth-Century China: A Prehistory of the Contemporary.’ [Events]

Ishibashi Foundation Visiting Professor: Frank Feltens

​We are delighted to welcome Frank Feltens, PhD, as the 32nd Ishibashi Foundation Visiting Professor this winter semester. Frank Feltens is Curator of Japanese Art at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art in Washington, DC. Feltens has curated a number of exhibitions, including ‘Japan Modern: Prints in the Age of Photography’ (2018), ‘Hokusai: Mad About Painting’ (2019/2020), ‘Mind Over Matter: Zen in Medieval Japan’ (with Yukio Lippit; 2022) and ‘Imagined Neighbors: Japanese Visions of China, 1680-1980’ (2024). His most recent book ‘Imagined Neighbors: Visions of China in Japanese Art, Circa 1680–1980’ (Hirmer, 2024) was published this summer. Students can look forward to his seminars on ‘Painting as Counterculture in Edo Period Japan’ and ‘The Art of Rinpa’, as well as an excursion to Paris. Mark your calendars on 12 November 2024 for his evening lecture on ‘Ghost on the Stage: Specters and the Noh Theater in Modern Japanese Prints’. [Events]