Drama and Desire

by Morse, Anne Nishimura

• ISBN13: 9780878467105
• ISBN10: 0878467106
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-04-12
• Publisher: Museum of Fine Arts Boston

Summary

A rare gem: Drama and Desirepresents 69 masterpieces of Japanese ukiyo-epainting by such renowned masters as Hokusai, Utamaro and Harunobu, among others--all depicting aspects of the so-called "floating world," the licentious demimonde of Edo (modern-day Tokyo), where actors and courtesans, rich patrons and bohemians, cavorted. While woodblock prints of the floating world have long been a favorite of art lovers, the remarkable ink-and-dye paintings of the period are far less known and much less available. This volume collects key examples by some of Japan's most important artists, each conveying a singular and very moving freedom of expression. Here, we find wistful interiors of courtesans at rest, onstage panoramas of actors in their finery, explicitly erotic scenes of lovemaking and outrageous fantasies. Essays by renowned American and Japanese scholars, including Howard Hibbett and Masato Naito, set the context with discussions of Edo society and culture, the ways in which "high" and "low" arts mixed in ukiyo-epainting, and the prominent roles played by courtesans, geishas and male prostitutes in the subculture of the period. This is a milieu of passion and mystery, color and flamboyance, boldly rendered in these uncommonly exotic masterworks. Published to accompany the first major American exhibition of ukiyo-epaintings in recent years, hosted by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Table of Contents

Director's Foreword	p. 13
Acknowledgments	p. 15
Note to the Reader	p. 16
Edo Society and Culture: Ukiyo-e's Setting	p. 19
The Flowering of Low and High Arts in Edo Japan	p. 23
The Origins of Ukiyo-e	p. 34
Courtesans, Geisha, and Male Prostitutes	p. 41
WIth an Eye to Style, 1690-1765: Early Ukiyo-e	p. 51
An Air of Innocence, 1765-1780: Suzuki Harunobu and His Contemporaries	p. 115
Images of Feminine Allure, 1780-1805: Torii Kiyonaga and Kitagawa Utamaro	p. 139
Establishing a Lineage, 1780-1850: the Utagawa School	p. 175
"The Man Mad About Painting," 1760-1849: Katsushika Hokusai	p. 197
Mountings and Painting Techniques of Ukiyo-e Hanging Scrolls Philip Meredith and Tanya Uyeda	p. 223
Glossary	p. 228
Suggested Reading	p. 231
List of Illustrations	p. 234
Index	p. 237
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