Images of familial intimacy in Eastern and Western art

375 Pages·2014·15.47 MB·English

by  Nakamura, Toshiharu(Contributor)

Images of Familial Intimacy in Eastern and Western Art
The Intimate and the Public
in Asian and Global Perspectives
Managing Editor
Ochiai Emiko
Editorial Board
Fran Bennett (University of Oxford)
Chang Kyung-sup (Seoul National University)
Barbara Hobson (University of Stockholm)
Ito Kimio (Kyoto University)
Ito Peng (University of Toronto)
Tseng Yen-Fen (National Taiwan University)
Patricia Uberoi (Institute of Chinese Studies, Delhi)
VOLUME 4
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/ipap
Images of Familial Intimacy
in Eastern and Western Art
Edited by
Nakamura Toshiharu
LEIDEN | BOSTON
Cover illustration: Jan de Bray, Portrait of Abraham Casteleyn and His Wife Margarieta van Bancken, 1663,
Collection Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. F.E. Blaauw Bequest, ’s-Graveland.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Images of familial intimacy in Eastern and Western art / edited by Nakamura Toshiharu.
  pages cm. -- (The intimate and the public in Asian and global perspectives, ISSN 2213-0608 ;
VOLUME 4)
 Includes bibliographical references and index.
 ISBN 978-90-04-24820-5 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Families in art. 2. Intimacy (Psychology) in art.
3. Art and society--Europe. 4. Art and society--East Asia. I. Nakamura, Toshiharu, editor of compilation.
II. Hirakawa, Kayo, author. Faith, family and politics in Lucas Cranach the Elder's Holy kinship altarpiece.
  N8217.F27I43 2014
  704.9’4930687--dc23
                          2013048942
This publication has been typeset in the multilingual “Brill” typeface. With over 5,100 characters covering
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First published 2012 in Japanese [Henyosuru Shinmitsuken/Kokyoken 変容する親密圏／公共圏,
Vol. 3, Kaiga to Shiteki-sekai no Hyosho 絵画と私的世界の表象] by Kyoto University Press, Yoshida
South Campus, Kyoto University, 69 Konoe-cho Yoshida, Sakyo, Kyoto 606-8315, Japan.
Copyright 2014 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
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Contents
Preface vii
List of Contributors ix
List of Figures x
1. An Introduction to Interpreting Images of Family, Mother and Child,
and the Home 1
Nakamura Toshiharu
2. Faith, Family and Politics in Lucas Cranach the Elder’s Holy Kinship
Altarpiece 54
Hirakawa Kayo
3. Domestic Bliss? Images of the Family and Home in
Seventeenth-Century Dutch Genre Art 83
John Loughman
4. Changing Images of Childhood: The Children’s Portrait
in Netherlandish Art and Its Influence 108
Mirjam Neumeister
5. Man and Woman in Ise monogatari-e: Scene Selection
in the First Half of the Seventeenth Century 132
Yasuda Atsuo
6. Karako Asobi: Images of Chinese Children at Play 185
Tajima Tatsuya
7. The Development of the Doll Festival as Seen in Paintings:
Focusing on Edo Period Family Actions 218
Miyazaki Momo
8. Images of Children in Modern Art in Taiwan: Public Messages
Concealed in Private Depictions 249
Li Su-chu
9. Images of the Family in 1950s Korea: The Family as a Metaphor
for Repose 287
Kim Yisoon
vi contents
Bibliography 313
Photo Credits and Sources 345
Index 347
Preface
In the history of Japanese art, Kusumi Morikage’s work, Enjoying the Evening Cool
under an Evening Glory Trellis is renowned for its depiction of the apparent peaceful
happiness of a family in the early Edo period. A man, a woman and a child enjoy the
evening cool under a trellis and gaze at the full moon, not speaking to one another.
Observers who stand in front of this painting, naturally recognize it as an image of a
rural family, poor yet contented. Recent studies, however, call this reading into ques-
tion and propose to interpret the image as a representation of eremitic recluse ideas
embedded in Chinese tradition. In fact, seventeenth-century Japanese art has no other
example of this rural village scene showing figures thought to be a family composed of
husband, wife and child. Historical studies have clarified that in seventeenth-century
Japan, the basic family structure was still a complex extended family composed of
large numbers, and that the concept of a nuclear family made up of husband, wife and
their children was not yet the usual family structure for farming families. This histori-
cal fact must be taken into consideration in interpreting Morikage’s work. Current
observers, however, see a reflection of the present-day image of a happy family in this
painting, because the three figures depicted correspond with the contemporary image
of a family group.
Historical studies have demonstrated that the view of the family is not a universal
given but a concept that changes over time. In spite of this premise, observers tend to
soften their historical stance when examining artworks depicting children or families.
In the case of artworks on religious or mythological subjects, people consider it essen-
tial to grasp appropriately the dogma or narrative content and the historical context
for the proper interpretation of such works. Meanwhile, when looking at paintings
that depict children and families, people tend to relate their personal experiences as a
child, of growing up in a family, and thus think that they can easily understand this
type of paining. Caution must thus be taken to ensure that existing contemporary
views on children and the family do not influence the interpretation of past artworks.
In the analysis of artworks that depict children, families, or husband and wife, the
value systems of the periods and regions in which the works were created must be fully
considered, although they might look easy to understand at first glance. This book is a
product of joint research by nine scholars who share such an awareness of issues
related to the historical interpretation of visual images. The nine essays examine
diverse types of artworks created in the West and in Asia from the pre-modern era to
the present day. They consider the perspectives on family, home and children, of each
period and region, specifically reflected in artworks. Recently, the publication of books
related to children, families and the home within the discipline of art history has seen
a slight boom. This book is, however, unique in offering a comparative art historical
viii preface
approach through the examination of artworks from various periods and regions,
although the subject matter discussed in it is still limited. I hope that this collection of
essays will stimulate further development in the study of this important theme.
I am grateful to Brill, and especially to Paul Norbury and Nozomi Goto, for their
interest and help in seeing this book through publication. My profound gratitude goes
to Emiko Ochiai, who encouraged me to edit this book as the fourth volume of The
Intimate and the Public in Asian and Global Perspectives series.
Nakamura Toshiharu
List of Contributors
NAKAMURA Toshiharu, Professor, Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto Univeristy
HIRAKAWA Kayo, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University
John LOUGHMAN, Senior Lecturer, School of Art History and Cultural Policy,
University College Dublin
Mirjam NEUMEISTER, Curator of Flemish Baroque Painting, Bayerische
Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Alte Pinakothek, Munich
YASUDA Atsuo, Associate Professor, Faculty of Education, Aichi University of
Education
TAJIMA Tatsuya, Associate Professor, Faculty of Fine Arts, Kyoto City University
of Arts
MIYAZAKI Momo, Curator, The Museum Yamato Bunkakan
LI Su-chu, Associate Professor, Department of Visual Communication Design, Ming
Chi University of Technology
KIM Yisoon, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Fine Arts, Hongik University