Member book, Kitazawa, Kuresawa, and Mitsuda Yuri, History of Japanese Art after 1945: Institutions, Discourse, Practice

Kenji Kajiya's picture

Dear colleagues,

Please allow me to announce the publication of History of Japanese Art after 1945: Institutions, Discourse, Practice, by Kitazawa Noriaki, Kuresawa Takemi, and Mitsuda Yuri, with an introduction by Kajiya Kenji. Leuven: Leuven University Press, 2023. hardcover and e-book, 408 pages, ISBN: 9789462703544

History of Japanese Art after 1945 surveys the development of art in Japan since WWII. The original Japanese work, which has become essential reading for those with an interest in modern and contemporary Japanese art and is a foundational resource for students and researchers, spans a period of 150 years, from the 1850s to the 2010s. Each chapter is dedicated to a specific period and written by a specialist.

The English edition first discusses the formation and evolution of Japanese contemporary art from 1945 to the late 1970s, subsequently deals with the rise of the fine-art museum from the late 1970s to the 1990s, and concludes with an overview of contemporary Japanese art dating from the 1990s to the 2010s.

These three parts are preceded by a new introduction that contextualizes both the original Japanese and the English editions and introduces the reader to the emergence of the concept of art (bijutsu) in modern Japan. This English-language edition provides valuable reading material that offers a deeper insight into contemporary Japanese art.

Contents

Translation Credits
Notes on the Translation

Introduction to the English Edition by Kajiya Kenji

Chapter 1: The Formation and Evolution of Japanese Contemporary Art [Gendai Bijutsu]: 1945 to the Early 1970s by Mitsuda Yuri
Introduction: The Formation and Evolution of Japanese Contemporary Art
Section 1: The Inception of “Contemporary Art”: The 1955 System of Art (1945–54)
Section 2: The Era of “Contemporary Art”: Anti-Art (1955–64)
Section 3: The Evolution of “Contemporary Art”: Dismantlement and Reincarnation (1965–74)
Notes

Chapter 2: The Age of the Fine-Art Museum: The Late 1970s to the 1990s by Kitazawa Noriaki
Introduction: Institutions and Alternatives
Section 1: Fine Art’s “Conservative Revolution” and the New Wave: The Mid-1970s to the Early 1990s
Section 2: The Rise of Neo-Pop: The “Modern Art” of the 1990s

Chapter 3: The End of “Art”: The 1990s to the 2010s by Kuresawa Takemi
Introduction: After the Postmodern—Art after the 1990s
Section 1: Formation of New Spaces [Genba] and Institutions [Seido]—The 1990s
Section 2: After “Art”: The 2000s to the 2010s
Notes

Bibliography
Indexes

The publication is supported by Art Platform Japan, an initiative by The Agency for Cultural Affairs, for which I am working as a steering committee member.
https://artplatform.go.jp/resources/readings/book-project

For further information, see the publisher's website:

https://lup.be/products/210010