COLLECTION NAME:
Undergraduate Thesis Collection
Record
Title:
Upholding the Tradition of Beautiful Ladies: The Shin-Hanga Prints of Itō Shinsui (1898–1972)
Creator:
Yuen, Daisy
Subject:
Thesis (B.F.A.) -- Art History
Subject:
Savannah College of Art and Design -- Department of Art History
Rights:
Copyright is retained by the authors or artists of items in this collection, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Abstract:
"The 'shin-hanga' Japanese woodblock print movement, also known as The New Prints Movement, was established by Watanabe Shōzaburō (1885–1962) in 1915. The significance and popularity of 'shin-hanga' prints rests in its ability to harmonizes formal European compositional elements with traditional Japanese aesthetics. While initially a commercial enterprise aimed at Western collectors, Watanabe's New Prints Movement has come to embody Japanese national identity. Previous scholarship has addressed the European visual elements while neglecting ways in which these prints are representative of a long history of Japanese visual traditions. Furthermore, the genre depicting beautiful women, known in Japanese as 'bijinga,' has received limited discussion, despite its long history and continued popularity across eras. This thesis provides a more nuanced understanding of the traditional aesthetics that are exemplified by the long-established genre of ideal beauty. This thesis demonstrates a close examination of selected woodblock prints by the noted 'shin-hanga' artist Itō Shinsui (1898–1972) from his 'Second Collection of Modern Beauties' series. Through an analysis of the visual styles, iconographic components, and overall aesthetic features, this work serves as a case study to understand the role of 'shin-hanga bijinga' in embodying Japanese cultural identity. Focusing on the continuity of visual characteristic and cultural values, a comparison will be drawn between the 'bijinga' works by Itō and the noted eighteenth century 'ukiyo-e' artist, Kitagawa Utamaro (1753–1806). This comparison presents the traditional aesthetics that Itō Shinsui's 'shin-hanga bijinga' prints reaffirmed and promoted to the Western audience." --Abstract
Keywords: beauty, bijinga, Itō Shinsui, Japanese aesthetics, Japanese art, Japanese culture, Kitagawa Utamaro, New Prints Movement, shin-hanga, tradition; ukiyo-e, woodblock prints
Keywords: beauty, bijinga, Itō Shinsui, Japanese aesthetics, Japanese art, Japanese culture, Kitagawa Utamaro, New Prints Movement, shin-hanga, tradition; ukiyo-e, woodblock prints
Publisher:
Savannah, Georgia: Savannah College of Art and Design
Date:
2023-06
Format:
1 online resource: 1 PDF (Thesis, 43 pages, color illustrations)