Overview

Fenollosa’s Legacy in Late Nineteenth Century Japan: An American Scholar’s Role in Resurrecting the Art of Japan makes a critical assessment of American art theorist Ernest F. Fenollosa’s work in Meiji Japan. Ernest F. Fenollosa was first hired as a Tokyo University professor of political philosophy in 1878 but became an art theorist and policymaker for Japan’s Education Ministry. His illustrious career as an art administrator began with the 1882 Bijutsu shinsetsu speech that cemented the reputation of his work. Working closely with Okakura Kakuzō (Tenshin), Fenollosa became the lightning rod in defining the course of modern painting as well as in establishing the first national art school. He is widely credited with resurrecting moribund traditional Japanese painting to health. The author shows this assessment of Fenollosa as the savior of Japanese traditional painting work may not have been deserved by examining the historical context in which he made the 1882 speech. The book offers the first English translation of Fenollosa’s 1882 Bijutsu shinsetsu speech that had been previously unavailable to the non-Japanese reading audience.

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9781666948295

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"""Nara's masterful translation and contextualization of Bijutsu shinsetsu finally makes this seminal document of modern Japanese art history available to a wider Western readership. Scrupulously researched, authoritatively interpreted and lucidly written, it is a must-read study for those interested in modern Japanese etymology and historical linguistics as well as Meiji period art history."" --John D. Szostak, University of Hawai'i at Manoa"

"""Nara's masterful translation and contextualization of Bijutsu shinsetsu finally makes this seminal document of modern Japanese art history available to a wider Western readership. Scrupulously researched, authoritatively interpreted and lucidly written, it is a must-read study for those interested in modern Japanese etymology and historical linguistics as well as Meiji period art history."""

Author Information

Hiroshi Nara is professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Pittsburgh.

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