The sophistication and variety of painting in Japan’s Edo period, as seen through a preeminent U.S. collection

Edited by Rachel Saunders

 
Over more than four decades, Robert and Betsy Feinberg have assembled the finest private collection of Edo period Japanese painting in the United States. The collection is notable for its size, its remarkable quality, and its comprehensiveness. It represents virtually every stylistic lineage of the Edo period (1615–1868)—from the gorgeous decorative works of the Rinpa school to the luminous clarity of the Maruyama-Shijō school, from the “pictures of the floating world” (ukiyo-e) to the inky innovations of the so-called eccentrics—in addition to sculpture from the medieval and early modern periods. Hanging scrolls, folding screens, handscrolls, albums, and fan paintings: the objects are as breathtaking as they are varied. This catalogue’s 12 contributors, including established names in the field alongside emerging voices, use the latest scholarship to offer sensitive close readings that bring these remarkable works to life.

Rachel Saunders is the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Curator of Asian Art at the Harvard Art Museums.

With contributions by Daniel Borengasser, Mycah Braxton, Kit Brooks, Wai Yee Chiong, Quintana Heathman, Fabienne Helfenberger, Leah Justin-Jinich, Yukio Lippit, Melissa McCormick, Oh Seung Hee, Rachel Saunders, and Helen Swift.

A related exhibition, Painting Edo: Japanese Art from the Feinberg Collection, is on display at the Harvard Art Museums from February 14, 2020 to Summer 2021. Explore more at harvardartmuseums.org/paintingedo

Painting Edo: Japanese Art from the Feinberg Collection was made possible by the Robert H. Ellsworth Bequest to the Harvard Art Museums, the Melvin R. Seiden and Janine Luke Fund for Publications and Exhibitions, the Catalogues and Exhibitions Fund for Pre-Twentieth-Century Art of the Fogg Museum, the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, the Thierry Porté Director’s Discretionary Fund for Japanese Art, and the Japan Foundation. The accompanying print catalogues were supported by the Harvard Art Museums Mellon Publication Funds, including the Henry P. McIlhenny Fund. Related programming is supported by the M. Victor Leventritt Lecture Series Endowment Fund, Harvard University’s Edwin O. Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies, and the Department of History of Art and Architecture Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Fund for Art and Architecture.

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