The Splendour of Modernity: Towards a History of Meiji Arts

Dr Rosina Buckland introduces her new publication, the first textbook on the diverse arts of late 19th-century Japan.

The programme of modernization and industrialization initiated by the new government of Japan following the Meiji Restoration of 1868 had profound effects on the arts, bringing changes to practices, materials, venues and the very words used to describe creative forms. However, within the study of Japanese art history, the late nineteenth century has largely been neglected because of a perception that, due to the admixture of foreign elements during this period, the art was somehow no longer authentically "Japanese". 

Dr Buckland’s forthcoming publication, the first textbook on this period, will counter this view, demonstrating that rich new strands of artistic practice developed at this time, which were distinctively Japanese even as they incorporated new stimuli from overseas. It will also challenge the mistaken assumption of artistic decline in the opening years of the Meiji era, due to a bias towards those art forms associated with official institutions, both old and new. In her lecture, Dr Buckland will present a selection of topics from the book, to show the resilience, innovation and enduring beauty of Japanese art during a transformative period marked by Japan’s global engagement and artistic evolution.

About the speaker

Dr Rosina Buckland is Curator, Japanese Collections at the British Museum in London. She received a BA degree in Japanese Studies from the University of Cambridge and a PhD degree in Art History from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. Her publications include Shunga: Erotic Art in Japan (2010) and Painting Nature for the Nation: Taki Katei and the Challenges to Sinophile Culture in Meiji Japan (2013). 

Having worked at the British Museum, the National Museum of Scotland, and the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, in 2020 she returned to the British Museum.

Registration

This event free, open to the public, and held both in person and online. If you would like to attend, please register using one of the links above.

• Organiser: SOAS Japan Research Centre
• Contact email: centres@soas.ac.uk