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The student assignment on which this article was based is reproduced below. Art 100 Introduction to the History of Art Japanese, Kano School The Arrival of the Portugese in Japan
Project Two Write a paper of not fewer than 5 pages (double-spaced), plus not fewer than 3 pages of diagrams and sketches, on the pair of Japanese screens, representing The Arrival of the Portugese in Japan, on exhibit on the second floor of the Portland Art Museum (the catalogue information above is given approximately as listed on the label posted with the screens). Before visiting the Art Museum, read the five pages on Japanese screens in the handbook of Asian art in the collection of the Portland Art Museum, written by the curator of Asian art, Donald Jenkins.
This should provide sufficient orientation for you to explore the screens on your own. Do not read any additional material on Japanese screens before writing this paper. First give yourself the opportunity to see what you can discover on your own. After you turn in your papers and we have discussed our initial impressions of this pair of screens, we will read more about Japanese screen painting and look at illustration of other screens. As in our first project, this will provide you with a comparison between what you have discovered on your own and what is available with the support of humanistic scholarlship. You will be surprised at how much you can see, how much you can discover and understand about these painting, based only on your prior background and on your visual-intellectual interplay with the paintings. Concentrate on describing the screens as fully and as accurately as possible, gradually working toward what you might consider the meaning of the paintings or at least their overall character. Consider especially the ways in which the artist constructs images and conveys meaning. Artists make use of the pictorial language of their own time. Some of these modes of representation may be unfamiliar to us. Try to understand the modes of representation used by this artist. The artist has not used typical Western one-point linear perspective, which we often accept without thinking. Try to figure out what type of perspective the artist HAS used. How does the artist convey space? Enjoy these magnificent painted screens, one of the Portland Art Museum's many Japanese treasures.
Monday, Oct. 7 Discussion of your study of The Arrival of the Portugese in Japan at the Portland Art Museum PAPERS DUE AT THE BEGINNING OF CLASS.
Wednesday, Oct. 9 Follow-up discussion of questions raised Monday and comparison of The Arrival of the Portugese in Japan with other Japanese screens illustrated and discussed in these two books.
Monday, Oct. 14 Comparing original works of art, illustrations in books, and digital images In preparation for class discussion, spend at least a half-hour studying digital images of the Portland pair of Japanese namban screens and comparing them with your experience of the screens themselves and with illustrations of Japanese screens in the books above. These digital images must be studied on the two high quality, 21 inch, monitors in the Art History Conference Room, for which you must sign up on the time sheets posted. In the field of art history, we are beginning to examine potential uses of digital images. Obviously, like illustrations in books, digital images are useful where the original works of art are not available. However, where the original work of art is available, as with your study of the Portland namban screens, it is questionable whether digital images of the art have any use at all. In most ways they provide a poor substitute for the experience of the original. See what you think.
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