Course Materials

Syllabus (PDF)

Lecture Handouts

01. Ancient Japan:   Jomon and Yayoi Periods, art history

02. Kofun "key-hole" tombs, context

03. Shinto Shrines, authenticity, copy

04. Buddhism from Asuka to Hakuho: Horyuji, appropriation and influence

05. Buddhism from Hakuho to Nara: Yakushiji, ritual

06. Buddhism in Nara Japan: Todaiji and Silk-Road Treasures of the Shoso-in, collecting, display

07. Toji and Early Heian Esoteric Buddhism, sign

08. The Byodo-in Amida Hall and Visions of the Western Paradise in Heian Japan, representation

09. Painting formats and early Yamato-e of the Heian Era, style (to be passed out in class)

10. Heian-era handscrolls, narrative

11. Kamakura Realism, realism

12. Kamakura Visions of Heaven and Hell, function

13. Kamakura Zen Temples, space and place

14. Kamakura Zen Painting, icon, iconoclasm

15. Muromachi Tea Ceremony, performance            

16. Momoyama Castles and Nanban Art, multiculturalism

17. Momoyama Imperial Architecture: The Katsura Detached Villa, production

18. The Edo-period Rinpa School and Decorative Arts, commodity

19. Maruyama Okyo and Shiba Kokan: Exploring the West in the Edo Period, identity

20. Edo Ukiyo-e Geisha and Actors: Sharaku, Harunobu, and Utamaro, gender

21. Edo Ukiyo-e Landscapes and Cityscapes: Hiroshige and Hokusai, orientalism

22. Meiji Woodblock Prints, modernism

23. Meiji Nihonga and Yöga, originality

24. Twentieth-Century Zen Paintings, avant-garde

25. Japanese Art Now, postmodernism