What can we learn about the historical city of Kyoto through a close study of the NGV’s recently acquired Japanese screens, generously supported by Baillieu Myer AC and Sarah Myer, Scenes in and around the capital (Kyoto), Rakuchu Rakugai zu, c. 1650?

In a special after-hours presentation, Dr Mark Erdmann, an expert in Japanese pre-modern architecture and art, discusses this pair of six-panelled screens which depicts in minute detail the city of Kyoto around 1650 and is the earliest example of its kind to enter an Australian public collection.

Learn about the history of this type of genre painting and how to read it, taking in the complex array of temples, shrines, castles, celebrations and everyday life depicted as well as the political themes embedded.

Includes an opportunity to view the screens on display in the Pauline Gandel Gallery of Japanese Art from 5.30–6.15pm.

This event will be presented in person and livestreamed. When registering, you can choose to book an in-person ticket or a virtual ticket to access the livestream.

Speaker

Dr Mark K Erdmann is a Lecturer in Art History at the University of Melbourne. He received his doctorate in History of Art & Architecture from Harvard University and Masters in Japan Studies from SOAS, University of London. Erdmann specialises in Japanese pre-modern architecture and art, particularly of the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries, and the intersection of space, painting, carpentry, and power. He is currently working on a book on Azuchi Castle and translating the early seventeenth-century secret carpenter manual Shōmei (Elucidation of the Craft).

The NGV warmly thanks and acknowledges the late Baillieu Myer AC and Sarah Myer for their support.

Scholars Series

This program is part of the NGV’s Scholar Series, a new stream of in-depth presentations by experts in art and art history that uncover the stories behind works from the NGV Collection.