ARTS 355 - Pleasure and Design in Confinement: Japanese Prints in and after Edo

Semester Offered: Second Semester
Full Course
Credits: 4 credits
Attribute: 4HU, CD, WINT

Colorful ukiyo-e, pictures of courtesans, kabuki actors reenacting samurai epics, and landscapes of Mt. Fuji, are among the most recognizable images of Japanese art. This course explores how woodblock prints developed in the 17-18th centuries alongside the growth of Edo (modern Tokyo) and during a period of isolationism. We will track innovations in woodblock technology and how features of prints were creative responses of artists to constraints imposed by the ruling shogunate. We will begin with key social and cultural changes, examine select thematic topics and artists (e.g. Utamaro, Hokusai) and conclude with modern prints.

Enrollment Limit: 30
Instructor: B. Cheng

Prerequisites & Notes: A 100-level ARTS or EAST class.
This class counts as a 300-level course, non-western, and towards the East Asian field in the Art History major.  This course counts towards the China, Japan, or transregional fields & in the East Asian Studies major. This course counts towards the Book Studies Concentration.

 
This course may also count for the major in (consult the program or department major requirements) :
East Asian Studies