GREAT MASTERS OF JAPANESE PAINTING The New Concept of Maruyama Okyo

Maruyama Okyo (1733-95) was regarded as the finest painter in Kyoto during the height of his career.  He painted at the palace and for the greatest households.  But Okyo was no eccentric, and this was most unusual.  Formal painting was occupied by the Kano School and its appendages, and any artist who wished to paint outside their orbit had to be either self-consciously wayward in manner and lifestyle, or else avowedly populist.  Timon Screech, Professor, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, discusses what Okyo called his “new concept” (shin’i) as a strategy for bypassing the commissioning and market rigors of his age. 

Followed by a reception.

Tickets: $10; Japan Society/Asia Society members & seniors $8; students $5.