When the Meiji Government opened Kōbu Bijutsu Gakkō (an Art School of the Ministry of Technology)... more When the Meiji Government opened Kōbu Bijutsu Gakkō (an Art School of the Ministry of Technology), the first national institute for the education of Western style art in Japan, in 1876, female students were admitted as well as male students. However, the government closed the school in 1882 and discontinued its promotion of education in Western style art. It was only after 1896, that the Tokyo School of Fine Arts, established in 1887 by the Ministry of Education, opened a department of Western style painting and started life-drawing classes. Only male students were eligible for admission to this school from its opening until as late as 1946. 1 The female nude became an ardently desired genre by Japanese male artists, though exhibiting images of the female nude to the public remained controversial until the early twentieth century. Neither allegorical paintings of female nudes nor divine mythological female figures of the sort in the Indian art assumed a major presence in Japanese modern art. Diverse images of women wearing kimono, however, were extremely popular in Japanese visual culture. This essay analyzes the emergence of the kimono-clad female figure as a Japanese icon abetted by nationalism and imperialism in the age of the Japanese Empire. 1. Western Clothes as Modern Fashion in Early Meiji Japan The Meiji Emperor was only fourteen years old when he succeeded to the throne after his fatherʼs sudden death in 1866. Two years later, the Meiji government was established, and the Meiji Emperor became the head of the state.
Introduction Contents Chapter 1 Kuroda Seiki and His Reception of Western art 1.1 Kuroda Seiki in... more Introduction Contents Chapter 1 Kuroda Seiki and His Reception of Western art 1.1 Kuroda Seiki in Japanese art histotry 1.2 Kuroda's family background 1.3 The art of Raphael Collin and its reception by Kuroda 1.4 Female images by Kuroda Chapter 2 Formation of Masculine camaraderie in Japan 2.1 Controversy over female nude in Japan 2.2 Solidarity of Japanese Students in Paris around 1900 2.3 Male artists and the artistic self 2.4 "Bohemian" life introduced to Japanese stUdents Chapter 3 Making Images of "Kimono Beauty" as National Symbol 3.1 Reception of Western dress in the early Meiji period 3.2 Images of Japanese women in kimono under Westemes' gaze 3.3 Wada Eisaku and his representation of a woman in kimono 3.4 Invention of kimono as a "national dress" 3.5 Popularisation of "kimono beauty" 3.6 A Change in representation of "beautiful" women Chapter 4 Representing "T6y6 "with Images of Women ii v 8 12 31 47 4.1 Fujishima Takeji and his experience in Europe 4.2 Representation of the images of Korea by Fujishima 4.3 Profiles of women in Chinese dress by Fujishima 91 4.4 Admiration and desire reflected in the images of women in Chinese dress 101 Chapter 5 Representation of "Otherness" and Imperialism in "Kimono Beauty" 5.1 Umehara RyQzaburO and his images of women under the Western gaze 108 5.2 Search for modern images of Japanese beauty 112 5.3 "Kimono beauty" in contrast with female images in colonies 123 5.4 Uemura ShOen and her representation of "kimono beauty" 132 5.5 Images of Taiwan by Japanese artists and Taiwanese artists 5.6 "Kimono beauty imperialism" in oil paintings 152 Conclusion 157 Bibliography 160 List of Illustrations 176
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