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SAM Downtown – Saturday University Lecture Series
February 1, 2020 @ 2:00 am - 3:00 am PST
Saturday University Winter 2019
Woodwork and the Arts of Japan
Yukio Lippit / Harvard University
Although Japanese artistic traditions are often associated with rare and precious materials, including gold, silver, brocade silk, lacquer, and other materials, this lecture proposes that nothing is more valuable to these traditions than wood. Despite its humble and ubiquitous nature, wood in the Japanese islands was invested with many different kinds of value, and its qualities were showcased in richly varied forms of cultural production. Indeed, a focus on the way Japanese art and architecture relates to wood can lead to unexpected new perspectives on the cultural traditions of the archipelago.
New perspectives arise by considering the cases of the Ise Shrines, early sculpture, and the Katsura Villa, thereby reframing the role of Japan’s biomass heritage in the practices of Shinto, Buddhism, and sukiya architecture. (Sukiya describes a refined architectural style originally used for teahouses and later for some residences.)
About the Presenter
Yukio Lippit is Professor of History of Art and Architecture at Harvard University and Faculty Director of the Arts at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. He specializes in Japanese painting, and is author of Painting of the Realm: The Kano House of Painters in Seventeenth-Century Japan (2012). His recent publications include Japanese Zen Buddhism and the Impossible Painting (Getty, 2017) and The Artist in Edo (National Gallery of Art, 2018).
Please note: This event takes place at the Seattle Art Museum. South Hall doors open at 9:30 am.
OTHER LECTURES IN THIS SERIES
Sat Feb 1
Rarities Fit for Kings: Ephemeral and Tangible Precious Goods in Sultanate India
Sat Feb 8
Woodwork and the Arts of Japan
Sat Feb 15
The Dragon and the Pearl: Explorations of a Eurasian Motif
Sat Feb 22
The Strange Case of the Castaway Princess and Other Stories of Japan in the Pacific
Sat Feb 29
Out of the Dark: Banned Books in China
Sat Mar 7
Marvelous Journey of Precious Objects: Chaekgeori, Korean Still-Life Painting
QUESTIONS? CONTACT US
Individual lecture tickets available at the door: $11, SAM members $7; free at the door for students with ID
Please arrive to your seat 10 minutes before the program starts, or your seat may be released.