Abstract

This article focuses on the question of periodisations in Japanese art history through a consideration of the long-running careers of four successful but politically and aesthetically diverse artists: Domon Ken (1909­­­­­­­­‒1990), Okamoto Tarō (1911‒1996), Yoshihara Jirō, and Katsura Yuki (1913‒1991). The arc of these artists careers across the prewar, war, and postwar periods upsets popular periodisations in Japan’s art history that assert the postwar as a time of rupture and renewal. My focus is meant to challenge this ‘postwar paradigm’ while elucidating these artist’s negotiation of ethics and plurality during drastically different political eras. How does a reading of their work reveal continuities before and after the war, and what are the political stakes of these continuities?

摘要

本文通过思考四位成功但在政治和美学上不同的艺术家的长期职业生涯来关注日本艺术史上的分期问题：Domon Ken（1909-1990 年）、冈本太郎（1911-1996 年）、Yoshihara Jirō、和桂由纪（1913-1991 年）。这些艺术家在战前、战争和战后时期的职业生涯打破了日本艺术史上流行的分期法，即断言战后是一个破裂和复兴的时期。我的重点是挑战这种“战后范式”，同时阐明这些艺术家在截然不同的政治时代对道德和多元化的谈判。阅读他们的作品如何揭示战前和战后的连续性，以及这些连续性的政治利害关系是什么？