Reflections of Beauty: Women from Japan's Floating World

March 10 - July 2, 2006

Woman (detail)
Kiyoshi Saito
Woodblock print
Japan, mid-20th century
Gift of Isabel T. Pulvers
2002.42.3

Kyoto Geisha (detail) Katsushika Hokumei Japan, c. 1840 Ink and colors on paper Gift of Herman Blackman and Barbara Lockhart Blackman 1984.94.8

The ukiyo or “floating world” of Japan centered on the Yoshiwara “pleasure quarter” and other unlicensed entertainment districts that flourished in the city of Edo (now Tokyo) beginning in the mid-17th century. The most common and compelling images of the floating world (known as ukiyo-e) are the highly idealized representations of women. Courtesans (oiran) and entertainers (geisha) were the central figures of the ukiyo who literally and symbolically embodied physical beauty, cultural refinement and often erotic love.

Reflections of Beauty features paintings, woodblock prints, ceramics, textiles and personal ornaments, mostly from Pacific Asia Museum’s extensive but rarely seen collection of Edo-period art. The exhibition also features objects and photos from private collections as well as paintings by contemporary artists that reflect shifting attitudes towards beauty, femininity and the roles of women.

The Floating World Imagined
In their original context, these paintings and prints reveal the different ways that Japanese artists imagined these women as ideals of feminine elegance. Although actual courtesans and geisha were often depicted in ukiyo-e, the images blend fantasy and reality and served purposes ranging from the idealization of prostitution to the parody of official culture. In the first section of the exhibition, works are arranged thematically to demonstrate some of the common ways in which the characters of the floating world were both actually seen and creatively imagined. Images of women bathing and applying make-up carry both implications of sexual allure and self-reflection. Illustrations of the processions of courtesans emphasize the floating world as both a commercial and aesthetic spectacle. Similarly, images of women dancing reinforce the sense of display, and were also considered highly auspicious. Pictures of courtesans reading or writing love letters show the feelings of love, real or feigned, that were at the heart of relations between women of the ukiyo and their paramours. Alongside the fanciful portrayals of the lives of courtesans and geisha were depictions of these women juxtaposed with witty poems penned by writers, artists, and connoisseurs who sought to display their sophisticated knowledge of contemporary and classical culture. In one type, artists depicted beautiful women posing as characters from Chinese history or Japanese classical culture, either as a sort of homage or as satire. Particularly common were comically romantic couplings of elderly Chinese patriarchs and lovely young Japanese courtesans, reflecting the tension between Japan’s military-caste government and the emerging merchant class.

Fuji Seen Across Edo from the Ryogoku Bridge Utagawa Hiroshige Japan, 19th century Ink and colors on paper Henrietta Hill Swope Collection 1981.12.158

Reorienting the Floating World
When Japan was “opened” in the mid-19th century, Westerners quickly became infatuated with both Japanese art and Japanese women. Not surprisingly, pictures of Japanese women, including courtesans and geisha, were painted by Japanese and Western artists and were widely used to promote the image of exotic Japan. In Japan, both before World War II and immediately after, depictions of traditional Japanese beauties came to represent the pre-modern soul of the nation. In contrast, beginning in the 1960s, Japanese and Western artists appropriated these familiar icons to challenge enduring ideas of “traditional” culture. New generations of artists have adapted images of courtesans and geisha into their work and treated them with an irreverence, eroticism, and social relevance that, ironically, linked them with the original spirit of the floating world.

Reflections of Beauty: Women from Japan’s Floating World is curated by Kendall H. Brown, Associate Professor of Art History at California State University Long Beach with the participation of graduate students in his Fall 2005 art history seminar.

This exhibition is supported by the Consul General of Japan, Los Angeles and the Pacific Asia Museum’s Japanese Arts Council in partnership with the Japan America Society and Asia Society.

Courtesan and Cuckoo (detail) Shikoan Ikka Japan, c. 1805 Ink and pigment on paper Gift of Rose Marie Kamansky 2005.35.1

The Harari Collection
A number of objects featured in Reflections of Beauty: Women from Japan’s Floating World come from the Harari Collection, one of the museum’s most important holdings. The collection consists of almost 200 paintings and drawings from the Edo and Meiji periods in Japan.

Originally acquired between 1955 and 1970 by Ralph Harari, the collection includes a number of works by the most important artists of these periods, including Hokusai and his students. The collection was purchased by a group of investors who have since donated much of it to Pacific Asia Museum. In fact, Reflections of Beauty includes some of the most recent gifts, including an exquisite Edo period scroll painting, Courtesan and Cuckoo, donated by Rose Marie Kamansky.

Visit the Harari Collection of Japanese Paintings and Drawing online.

ArtNight
Friday, March 10, 6 to 10 pm
ArtNight offers a sampling of the world-class visual and performing arts and architecture of Pasadena. Start your evening at Pacific Asia Museum and board shuttle busses to ten other venues. Sponsored by the City of Pasadena Arts and Culture Commission. Free. For more information, go to www.artcenter.edu/artnight.

Members’ Lecture:
Portraying the Business of Beauty: Bijinga in Japan
Hollis Goodall, Associate Curator of Japanese Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Friday, March 17, 7 to 8:30 pm
Ms. Goodall will discuss the development of bijinga (pictures of beautiful women) as a genre of painting and prints and how changing perceptions of women affected their portrayals through time. Free for museum members and their guests. For reservations call ext. 37.

Curator’s Tour
Dr. Kendall H. Brown, Associate Professor, Asian Art History,
California State University, Long Beach
Saturday, March 25, 2 to 3 pm
Guest curator Dr. Brown will lead a tour through the exhibition, examining the floating world as a source of inspiration for both Japanese and western artists. Free with museum admission. For reservations call ext. 19.

Panel Discussion:
Images of the Floating World in Contemporary Art
Participants will include visiting artists Moira Hahn and Iona Rozeal Brown, art critic and independent curator Chris Miles, and moderator Dr. Kendall H. Brown.
Saturday, April 22, 2 to 4 pm
In recent decades artists in America (including those of Japanese ethnicity) have adapted subjects and style from ukiyo-e. The panel will discuss contemporary art and its links to the ukiyo and its imagery. Free with museum admission. For reservations call ext. 19.

The Asian Mystique

Authors on Asia
Sheridan Prasso, The Asian Mystique: Dragon Ladies, Geisha Girls and our Fantasies of the Exotic Orient
Saturday, May 6, 2pm
In conjunction with the museum exhibition Reflections of Beauty: Women from Japan’s Floating World prize-winning journalist and Asia expert Sheridan Prasso will discuss The Asian Mystique, in which she issues a provocative critique of the West’s eroticized illusions about Asia and how profoundly they color our social, cultural, business, personal, and political interactions.

Books will be available for purchase and signing. Authors on Asia programs are free to museum members and free with museum general admission for non-members. Reservations are strongly recommended for these programs. Light refreshments included. Authors on Asia programs are free for members and included in museum admission for nonmembers, $7 general, $5 students and seniors. For information and reservations, please call (626) 449-2742, ext. 20.

Photo courtesy Eric Chen

Wearable Beauty: Pacific Asia Museum
Celebrates Clothing & Costumes
Saturday, June 17, 10am-12:45pm
On the closing weekend of the Reflections of Beauty exhibition, join us for a narrated fashion show and demonstrations of ethnic costumes and textiles, presented by the museum’s Chinese, Himalayan, Japanese, Korean, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippine and Thai Arts Councils and the Service Council. Free with museum admission.

Seating is limited, reservations required, call ext. 31.

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