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Elijah Boardman, 1789
Ralph Earl (American, 1751–1801)
Oil on canvas
Otani Oniji II, dated 1794
Toshusai Sharaku (Japanese, active 1794–95)
Polychrome woodcut print on paper
1. Describe eachwork in brief.
the first work Earl portrayed the richly dressed dry-goods merchant Elijah Boardman (1760–1823) in his store in New Milford, Connecticut.
The second work the actor Otani Oniji II is captured here in the role of Yakko Edobe. A yakko is a manservant -used by samurai to perform violent deeds. Otani Oniji's leering face, shown in three-quarter view, bristling hair, and groping outstretched hands capture the ruthless nature of him.
2. Give your best guess as to the audience of each work.
The first work shows a man very well dressed. This man looked important as if he was going somewhere important or his jump consisted of dressing well. He is very poised.
The second drawing shows a man in traditional cloths, I believe his arms are out. He's angry, bothered, and a bit annoyed. I don't think those kinds of people were particularly nice
3. Describe what ideas each work it attempting to bear witness to.
The first work is attempting to bear witness to how the rich is seen during those times. The second is attempting to bear witness to how aggressive and mean the "yakko" can be.
4. Describe the differences between the respective works' representations of beauty.
The representation of beauty in the first work will have to be the neatness and cleanness of the furniture and the cloths. In the second painting the representation of beauty would be the details in the hair and facial features.
5. Do you think either of the artists knew about the others' art-making tradition? Why?
I do believe the artists knew about each other's art-making because although it was different countries, somehow, someway all artist knew of each others works. They would certainty not take each others work but will learn from it.
6. Do you think the mainstream (European) work deserves its place in the mainstream story of art? Why?
yes because everything is art, weather people understand it or not, art is art. It can be taught, understood or misunderstood, but every piece of art work should be heard.
7. Do you think the non-mainstream (non-European) work deserves a place in the mainstream story? Why?
I think it does, especially if it's different or makes a difference in a positive way.
I love those choices. Two male figures around the same time period. Somewhat different social classes, the European being upper-level and the Japanese maybe lower-aristocrat or just plain hired goon.
ReplyDeleteYour comparison of the different postures and dress of the painted subjects is the best part. What qualities does the society value?
Obviously the first is an ostentatious show of wealth and power, but the second might actually be meant as comedy, not necessarily serving the same function. Seems like it could even be a popular work, for general amusement.
I think it would also have been valuable to relate the images formally, comparing the careful blending of colors into a realistic portrait and representation of the household interior in the former, and the dramatic flat zones of color and pattern and severe expression in the latter image.
At that time, Japan was a very closed-off society. European culture started to get heavily influenced by Japanese woodblock images around the early to mid 1800's, but during your time, there probably wasn't much knowledge of one another's visual cultures. (A)