Shogun's Painted Culture: Fear & Creativity in the Japanese States, 1760–1829 by Screech 2000

A penetrating cultural history of Japanese painting in the late Edo period, centered on the figure of Matsudaira Sadanobu (1758–1829), chief shogunal councillor and cultural arbiter who played a decisive role in shaping what we now think of as traditional Japanese visual culture. Screech examines how Sadanobu mobilized painting as a political instrument, promoting established academic styles and sponsoring the revival of historical and literary painting as a counterweight to the ukiyo-e tradition he opposed. The reconstruction of Kyoto after the great fire of 1788 provided the occasion for a sweeping reassertion of the shogunate's visual authority. Learned, readable, and richly illustrated, this is an essential text in the cultural history of Edo-period Japan.

• Title: The Shogun's Painted Culture
• Subtitle: Fear and Creativity in the Japanese States, 1760–1829
• Author: Timon Screech
• Publisher: Reaktion Books, London
• Publication Date: 2000
• Edition: First Edition
• Printing:
• Format: Softcover
• Pages: 312
• Illustrations: 111 illustrations, 20 in color
• ISBN-13: 978-1861890641
• Language: English
• Dimensions: 9 × 6 in.
• Series: Envisioning Asia
• Condition: Very Good
• Notes: Timon Screech is Senior Lecturer in the history of Japanese art at SOAS, University of London. Cover features a hanging scroll detail: a small animal (likely a rat) on a pine branch with calligraphy inscription.
• Description: A penetrating cultural history of Japanese painting in the late Edo period, centered on the figure of Matsudaira Sadanobu (1758–1829), chief shogunal councillor and cultural arbiter who played a decisive role in shaping what we now think of as traditional Japanese visual culture. Screech examines how Sadanobu mobilized painting as a political instrument, promoting established academic styles and sponsoring the revival of historical and literary painting as a counterweight to the ukiyo-e tradition he opposed. The reconstruction of Kyoto after the great fire of 1788 provided the occasion for a sweeping reassertion of the shogunate's visual authority. Learned, readable, and richly illustrated, this is an essential text in the cultural history of Edo-period Japan.