Copying the Master and Stealing His Secrets : Talent and Training in Japanese Painting

Copying the Master and Stealing His Secrets examines the transmission of painting traditions in Japan from one generation to the next. The contributors emphasize the relationship between inborn abilities and those skills taught in the course of learning how to paint. They focus their discussion on a group of painting masters loosely associated with the prestigious Kano painting atelier, Japan's de facto painting academy throughout the Tokugawa period (1615-1868) and into the early modern era. By delving into why, how, and what these painters transmitted to students through their teaching, readers gain insight into artistic and aesthetic sensibilities active in Japanese painting and a fuller appreciation of extant paintings within their cultural and historical contexts. An afterword posing as a foreword: some comparative and miscellaneous thoughts on talent and training / J. Thomas Rimer Talent, training and power: the Kano painting workshop in the seventeenth century / Karen M. Gerhart Copying from beginning to end? Student life in the Kano school / Brenda G. Jordan In the studio of painting study: transmission practices of Tani Bunchō / Frank Chance Kawanabe Kyōsai's theory and pedagogy: the preeminence of Shasei / Brenda G. Jordan Okuhara Seiko: a case of Funpon training in late Edo literati painting / Martha J. McClintock and Victoria Weston Institutionalizing talent and the Kano legacy at the Tokyo school of fine arts, 1889-1893 / Victoria Weston Epilogue: from technique to art / Brenda G. Jordan. Contents Illustrations Acknowledgments Notes to the Reader An Afterword Posing as a Foreword Introduction 1 Talent,Training, and Power: The Kano Painting Workshop in the Seventeenth Century 2 Copying from Beginning to End? Student Life in the Kano School 3 In the Studio of Painting Study: Transmission Practices of Tani Bunchò 4 Kawanabe Kyòsai’s Theory and Pedagogy: The Preeminence of Shasei 5 Okuhara Seiko: A Case of Funpon Training in Late Edo Literati Painting 6 Institutionalizing Talent and the Kano Legacy at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts, 1889-1893 7 Epilogue: From Technique to Art Appendix Notes Bibliography Contributors Index Focus is on pedagogical approaches used by masters who were trained by Kano or Kano lineage painters during the 17th through 19th centuries. This volume is illustrated with reproductions of Japanese artwork in b & w and color