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Description: Ogata Kōrin: Art In Early Modern Japan
~The joy of writing a book like this one lies in the opportunity to work with colleagues and friends throughout the field and beyond. This study has benefited from the knowledge and generosity of many individuals, and I am humbled by their presence along my path of pursuing the history of Japanese art. The groundwork for this book was made during doctoral...
PublisherYale University Press
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Acknowledgments
The joy of writing a book like this one lies in the opportunity to work with colleagues and friends throughout the field and beyond. This study has benefited from the knowledge and generosity of many individuals, and I am humbled by their presence along my path of pursuing the history of Japanese art. The groundwork for this book was made during doctoral studies at Columbia University, and I am grateful to my adviser, Matthew McKelway, for his unwavering support and guidance to this day. The manuscript was prepared during a residency at the Smithsonian Institution’s Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery as an Anne van Biema Fellow. Afterward, as curatorial staff at the Freer and Sackler, many colleagues at the museum have been instrumental in shaping my thinking, and they have left a lasting imprint on my work and conduct as a scholar. Above all, I owe innumerable gratitude to James Ulak, whose restless intellect, sharp eye, and incomparable wit made learning from him and working at the Freer and Sackler a truly formative experience. His exacting feedback on early versions of the manuscript much enhanced the final product. Louise Cort shared a vast expertise on ceramics, and Ann Yonemura offered counsel on lacquer. The following current and former colleagues have in countless conversations in hallways, offices, and during afterhours made work at the museum all the more profound and enjoyable: Kit Brooks, Andrew Hare, Takako Sarai, Sonia Coman, Jirō Ueda, Akiko Niwa, Reiko Yoshimura, Jennifer Berry, Nancy Micklewright, Kathryn Phillips, Shu Yue, Mike Smith, and Alessandro Bianchi. Nancy Eickel’s skills as an editor forever changed my outlook on writing.
During my four years as a visiting researcher at Gakushūin University, Tokyo, my adviser Sano Midori shared her wisdom and instructed me in the art of looking and critical thinking. She opened many doors that otherwise would have remained shut. I also thank Arakawa Masaaki, whose understanding of Kenzan is unparalleled, and Shimao Arata, who altered my view of ink painting. I will always remember the kindness of everyone who made the years at Gakushūin some of the most meaningful of my life.
A summer as a visiting researcher at the Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties provided the ideal environment for thinking about Kōrin, and ever since Emura Tomoko has been a guiding light as I have been venturing through the maze of studying Kōrin. Kobayashi Tadashi, Kobayashi Yūko, Satō Arisa, and Shioya Naoko of the Okada Museum of Art, Hakone, deserve special mention for their generosity in time, friendship, and collegiality. An internship at the Nezu Museum brought unparalleled exposure to some of Kōrin’s greatest works—so close as to make out a tiny hair of his brush stuck on one of the Irises screens. For this and much more, I thank Nezu Kōichi, Matsubara Shigeru, Noguchi Takeshi, Nishida Hiroko, Shirahara Yukiko, and Arakawa Mamiko. Klaus and Yoshie Naumann were a steadfast fixture throughout my years in Tokyo and beyond. Klaus, in ways large and small, shaped the way I see and understand Japanese art, and I will never forget the many hours during which he generously shared his knowledge and experience.
In Japan, I also thank Kōno Motoaki, Robert Campbell, Wil Lautenschlager, Tamamushi Satoko, Nakamachi Keiko, the late Nakabe Yoshitaka, Hasegawa Yōko, Tanaka Atsushi, Furuta Ryō, Miyamoto Keizō, Itakura Masaaki, Tsukamoto Maromitsu, Takagishi Akira, Okudaira Shunroku, Hayashi Susumu, Tanaka Jun, Suzuki Ken’ichi, Watada Minoru, Higuchi Kazutaka, Tsuchiya Maki, Shiino Akifumi, Oyama Yuzuruha, Ishikawa Atsuko, Tanaka Jun’ichirō, Fujimoto Yūki, Imanishi Junko, Honda Yasuko, Yanagizawa Eriko, Melissa Rinne, Matsushima Jin, Tanabe Kōji, Ōkubo Kenshi, and Paul Berry.
Curators and staff at the following institutions have been generous in providing access to their collections for research: Tokyo National Museum, Kyoto National Museum, Museum of the Imperial Collections Sannomaru Shōzōkan, Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Nezu Museum, Suntory Museum of Art, Sensōji, Seikadō Bunko Art Museum, Hatakeyama Memorial Museum of Fine Art, National Diet Library, National Institute of Japanese Literature, MOA Museum of Art, Kenninji, Fukuda Art Museum, Hosomi Museum, Yamato Bunkakan, Osaka City Museum of Art, Itsuō Museum, British Museum, Museum für Asiatische Kunst Berlin, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum, Yale University Art Gallery, Cleveland Museum of Art, Art Institute of Chicago, Kimbell Art Museum, Asian Art Museum San Francisco, and Seattle Art Museum. I am also indebted to the private collectors whose artworks I was allowed to study and include in this book.
Faculty at Columbia and other universities were a beacon of inspiration that left an everlasting imprint on my life and work. Among them, I want to thank Robert Harrist Jr., Jonathan Reynolds, Miyeko Murase, Haruo Shirane, Yukio Lippit, Andrew Watsky, Julie Nelson Davis, Melissa McCormick, Jamie Newhard, and the late Donald Keene. A number of friends and peers have been instrumental in ways large and small in shaping this project and my outlook on Japanese art history as a discipline. Above all, I am grateful to Aaron Rio, Talia Andrei, Joseph Scheier-Dolberg, Mimi Chusid, Sara Sumpter, Chun Wa Chan, Wai Yee Chiong, Kent Cao, Kristopher Kersey, Amy Riggs, Jens Bartel, Gloria Yu Yang, and Or Porath.
Many mentors, colleagues, and friends in the United States contributed to the completion of this volume. I am deeply indebted to Dawn Delbanco for her close reading and insightful feedback on the manuscript. Much gratitude for counsel, guidance, and graciously sharing expertise is deserved by John Carpenter, Kōichi Yanagi, Monika Bincsik, Rachel Saunders, Joan Cummins, Xiaojin Wu, Sinéad Vilbar, Michiyo Morioka, Midori Oka, Ying-chen Peng, and Amy Poster. The exhaustive comments by the two anonymous peer reviewers helped turn the text into publishable form.
My journey in the history of Japanese art began in my home country of Germany, where a number of teachers and colleagues—many of them now dear friends—paved the way that ultimately made this book a reality. Thank you to Alexander Hofmann, Melanie Trede, Nora von Achenbach, Katharina Rode, Wibke Schrape, Eugenia Bogdanova-Kummer, Sabine Bradel, Mio Wakita, Ching-Ling Wang, and Khanh Trinh. I am also grateful for the many conversations about Japanese art with Timothy Clark, Timon Screech, Estelle Bauer, and Koto Sadamura. Charlotte Horlyck kindly shared her understanding of Korean pottery that much benefited the chapter on sabi-e.
At Yale University Press, the manuscript could not have been in better hands. Katherine Boller, senior editor for art and architecture, believed in the project from the beginning and was exemplary in shepherding it to completion. Raychel Rapazza, editorial assistant, offered much help and guidance. Copyediting by Laura Jones Dooley and Heidi Downey ensured a polished final version. Many thanks also to Mary Mayer and the production team, who brought the project to completion and helped create a beautiful layout.
My very special gratitude is reserved for Daisuke Yajima and my parents, Margret and Arno Feltens. They were there—from thousands of miles away or right by my side—from the first days of exploring Kōrin down to the completion of this volume. Without their encouragement, inspiration, conversations, and simply offering a shoulder, none of this would have been possible.
Acknowledgments
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