Is a Picture Worth a Thousand Words? Ehon at National Museums Scotland
Resource type
Conference paper (unpublished)
Creator (person)
Boyd, Louise
Abstract
Ehon (woodblock-printed illustrated books) were hugely popular during the 17th-19th centuries, and they played an important role in Japanese culture and society. It was common for well-known Japanese artists to design illustrated books. However, ehon are not as widely known about because they are not displayed in museums as frequently as prints or paintings, and they tend to be overlooked or underrated in comparison.
In this talk, Dr Louise Boyd will discuss her Art Fund New Collecting Award project on ehon and why acquiring them is beneficial for the National Museums of Scotland, its audiences and her own research. She will introduce a variety of volumes acquired as part of the project. Some of the books include shunga (sexually explicit or erotic images), a genre which has been the subject of censorship, which she will broach in relation to her PhD research on the collecting and display of shunga.
Event title
Is a Picture Worth a Thousand Words? Ehon at National Museums Scotland
Publisher
The Japan Society
Rights statement
In Copyright