Download Melikian, Souren. 19 March 2008. “Christie`s sells sculpture

AHIS 481 Weekly Schedule
Weekly Schedule
Art History 481: Studies in Japanese Art (Fall 2008)
Visualizing the Buddhist Pure Land in Temple Gardens, Paintings, and Icons
Tuesdays and Thursdays 11:00 - 12:20, SOS B37
(subject to change)
WEEK 1
8/26/2008 Tuesday
Jōmon period (Neolithic culture 10,500 BCE – 300 BCE): Hunter gatherer culture,
pottery, and figurines; Yayoi period (300 BCE – 300 CE): Rice agriculture and
metallurgy.
Required reading:
Mason, Penelope. 1993/2005. Pages 13-29.
Edwards, Walter. 1991. “Buried Discourse: The Toro Archaeological Site and Japanese
National Identity in the Early Postwar Period.” Journal of Japanese Studies 17.1: 1-23.
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=00956848%28199124%2917%3A1%3C1%3ABDTTAS%3E2.0.CO%3B2-3
(Copy, paste, and click on this link; click on “PDF" to download and print)
Supplemental reading (on reserve at the Fine Arts Library unless unavailable):
Egami, Namio. 1973. The Beginnings of Japanese Art. Pages 9-27; 28-36.
Kidder, Edward. 1964. Early Japanese Art.
Kidder, Edward. 1968. Prehistoric Japanese Arts: Jōmon Pottery.
8/28 Thursday
Kofun period (300 CE – circa 600 CE): Tomb culture and the origins of the Japanese
state.
Required reading:
Mason, Penelope. 1993/2005. Pages 29-39.
Supplemental reading:
Egami, Namio. 1973. The Beginnings of Japanese Art. Pages 37-63.
Miki, Fumio. 1974. Haniwa.
* The handout for Reading Assignment will be distributed today
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AHIS 481 Weekly Schedule
WEEK 2
9/2 Tuesday
Asuka period (circa 590 – 650): Introduction of Buddhism and Buddhist art.
Required reading:
Mason, Penelope. 1993/2005. Pages 40-77.
Supplemental reading:
Mizuno, Seiichi. 1974. Asuka Buddhist Art: Hōryūji.
Nishikawa, Kyōtarō. 1982. The Great Age of Japanese Buddhist Sculpture..
Sugiyama Jirō. 1982. Classic Buddhist Sculpture.
9/4 Thursday
Hakuhō period (650 – 710): Developments in Buddhist art.
Required reading:
Mason, Penelope. 1993/2005. Pages 77-99.
WEEK 3
9/9 Tuesday
Nara period (710-794): State Buddhism; the Heijō capital; the Shōsōin.
Required reading:
Farris, W. Wayne. 2007. “Pieces in a Puzzle: Changing Approaches to the Shōsōin
Documents.” Monumenta Nipponica 62.4: 397-435.
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/monumenta_nipponica/v062/62.4farris.pdf
Supplemental reading:
Kobayashi, Takeshi. 1975. Nara Buddhist Art.
Ōoka, Minoru. 1973. Temples of Nara and their Art.
Sugiyama Jirō. 1982. Classic Buddhist Sculpture.
Whitfield, Susan. 1999. Life along the Silk Road.
Whitfield, Susan. 2004. Silk Road: Trade, Travel, War, and Faith.
Due today: First reading assignment
9/11 Thursday
Nara period (710-794), cont. Discuss first assignment and other questions.
* The handout for Map Assignment will be distributed today.
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AHIS 481 Weekly Schedule
WEEK 4
9/16 Tuesday
Heian period (794 – 1185), the Early Heian period (ninth and tenth centuries): Esoteric
Buddhism; the Heian capital.
Required reading:
Mason, Penelope. 1993/2005. Pages 100-165.
Supplemental reading:
Ishida, Hisatoyo. 1987. Esoteric Buddhist Painting.
Sawa, Takaaki (Ryūken). 1972. Art in Japanese Esoteric Buddhism.
9/18 Thursday
Later Heian period (eleventh and twelfth centuries): Pure Land Buddhism; the Byōdōin.
Required reading:
Mason, Penelope. 1993/2005. Pages 201-211.
Yiengpruksawan, Mimi Hall. 1995. “The Phoenix Halls at Uji and the Symmetries of
Replication.” The Art Bulletin 77.4: 657-672.
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=00043079%28199512%2977%3A4%3C647%3ATPHAUA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-L
Supplemental reading:
Okazaki, Jōji. 1977. Pure Land Buddhist Painting.
Fukuyama, Toshio. 1976. Heian Temples: Byōdōin and Chūsonji.
Seckel, Dietrich. 1988. Emakimono.
Tanabe, Willa. 1988. Paintings of the Lotus Sutra.
Murase, Miyeko. 2001. Tale of Genji: Legends and Paintings.
Murase, Miyeko. 1983. Emaki: Narrative Scrolls from Japan.
Murase, Miyeko. 1990. Masterpieces of Japanese Screen Painting.
WEEK 5
9/23 Tuesday
Later Heian period (eleventh and twelfth centuries), continued.
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AHIS 481 Weekly Schedule
9/25 Thursday 

Kamakura period (1185-1333): Rise of the warrior.
Required reading:
Mason, Penelope. 1993/2005. Pages 166-211.
Levine, Gregory P. 2001. “Switching Sites and Identities: The Founder’s Statue at the
Buddhist Temple Kōrin’in.” The Art Bulletin 83.1: 72-104.
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=00043079%28200103%2983%3A1%3C72%3ASSAITF%3E2.0.CO%3B2-G
Due today: Hand-drawn map with illustrations (see handout for details), available
for personal use on the Midterm Exam (you must turn the map in today to use it on
10/2).

WEEK 6
9/30 Tuesday
Short review of the course. Bring your questions to class.
10/2 Thursday
MIDTERM EXAM today during class (11:00-12:20).
WEEK 7
10/7 Tuesday
March 2008: Christie’s New York and Shinnyoen.
Required reading:
Christie’s. “A Highly Important Wood Sculpture of Dainichi Nyorai (Mahavairocana).”
(Lot description from the March 18, 2008 sale)
http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?from=searchresults&intObjectID=5047076
Melikian, Souren. 19 March 2008. “Christie's sells sculpture attributed to Unkei for
$14.37 million.” The International Herald Tribune.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/19/arts/melik20.php
Van Gelder, Lawrence. 26 March 2008. “Tokyo Temple Bought $14.3 Million Buddha
Top of Form.” The New York Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/26/arts/26arts-TOKYOTEMPLEB_BRF.html
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AHIS 481 Weekly Schedule
10/9 Thursday
The chain of events leading up to the auction: the initial purchase, the role of the Tokyo
National Museum (TNM) curator, and subsequent exhibitions at TNM. Reconstructing
an object’s lost biography.
Supplemental reading:
Davis, Richard H. 1995/1999. Lives of Indian Images.
WEEK 8
10/14 Tuesday
Evaluating the Buddha; the sacred, dedicatory objects sealed inside the torso.
10/16 Thursday
Evaluating the Buddha, continued.
WEEK 9
10/21 Tuesday
Unkei’s style.
Required reading:
Guth, Christine. 1981-1982. “Kaikei's Statue of Hachiman in Tōdaiji.” Artibus Asiae
43.3: 190-208.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/3249835
10/23 Thursday
Unkei’s lost work?
Required reading:
Yiengpruksawan, Mimi. Autumn 1991. “In My Image. The Ichiji Kinrin Statue at
Chusonji.” Monumenta Nipponica 46.3: 329-347.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/2385211
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AHIS 481 Weekly Schedule
WEEK 10
10/28 Tuesday
Ashikaga city’s appeal for the icon’s return, and why.
Due today: Third assignment on your museum visits; see the handout for detailed
instructions.
10/30 Thursday
The Bannaji site in Ashikaga city and its history.
WEEK 11
11/4 Tuesday
The ruined temple at Kabasaki in Ashikaga city and reconstructing the Pure Land garden:
historical basis and modern significance
Required reading:
Yiengpruksawan, Mimi. Spring 1993. “The House of Gold. Fujiwara Kiyohira’s
Konjikido.” Monumenta Nipponica 48.1: 33-52.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/2385465
Yiengpruksawan, Mimi. December 1995. “The Phoenix Hall at Uji and the Symmetries
of Replication.” Art Bulletin 77.4: 647-672.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/3046141
11/6 Thursday
Why do monuments from the past still matter? What does the sale of the Dainichi
Buddha inform us about the state/consideration of Japanese art today?
*The handout on your final paper for presentation will be distributed.
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AHIS 481 Weekly Schedule
WEEK 12
11/11 Tuesday
Commemorating the past and reconstructing lost monuments.
Required reading:
Savage, Kirk. Winter 1987. “The Self-Made Monument: George Washington and the
Fight to Erect a National Memorial.” Winterthur Portfolio 22.4: 225-242.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/1181181
Savage, Kirk. 2001. “Molding Emancipation: John Quincy Adams Ward's ‘The
Freedman’ and the Meaning of the Civil War.” Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies
27.1 (Terrain of Freedom: American Art and the Civil War): 26-39+101
http://www.jstor.org/stable/4102837
Supplemental reading:
Gillis, John R., ed. 1994. Commemorations: The Politics of National Identity.
11/13 Thursday
Who owns the past?
Required reading:
Kate Fitz Gibbon, ed. 2005. Who Owns the Past? Cultural Policy, Cultural Property,
and the Law.
WEEK 13
11/18 Tuesday
Updates on student presentations and research materials; be prepared to discuss your
progress.
11/20 Thursday
Student presentations (30 minutes in duration, and bring four copies of your draft for
distribution).
WEEK 14
11/25 Tuesday
Student presentations (30 minutes in duration, and bring four copies of your draft for
distribution).
11/27 Thursday (NO CLASS)
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AHIS 481 Weekly Schedule
WEEK 15
12/2 Tuesday
Student presentations (30 minutes in duration, and bring four copies of your draft for
distribution).
12/4 Thursday
Student presentations (30 minutes in duration, and bring four copies of your draft for
distribution).
*The handout on your take-home final will be distributed.
FINAL EXAM WEEK
12/16 Tuesday
Your typed, double-spaced take-home FINAL exam is DUE (9:00-10:00 am) in my
office (VKC 373C). Late exams will not be accepted.
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