A Study on the Relationship between Christopher Dresser and the Arts in the Kansai District during the Meiji era

Research Project

Project/Area Number	23820027
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Research Field	Study of the arts/History of the arts/Arts in general
Research Institution	Osaka University
Principal Investigator	TAKEUCHI Yuko 大阪大学, 文学研究科, 招へい研究員 (80613984)
Project Period (FY)	2011
Project Status	Completed (Fiscal Year 2011)
Budget Amount *help	¥910,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥210,000) Fiscal Year 2011: ¥910,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥210,000)
Keywords	美術史 / デザイン史 / ジャポニズム / 日英交流 / ジャポニスム
Research Abstract	This study aims to examine how Christopher Dresser had influenced the arts in the Kansai District during the Meiji era. Several studies have been made about the relationship between Dresser and Japan. However, studies which focus on the arts and crafts of Kansai are very few. Former studies focused on the discourse of art educators and promoters in Tokyo. To make this point clear, I investigated the art theory of Beisen Kubota. Kubota was not only a painter, but also a designer and a theorist. He quoted from Dresser' s book :" Principles of Decorative Design" in his own book," The New Theory of Aesthetics(Bikan shinron)". His ideas concerning" design" were affected by Dresser. However, there are interesting differentiations between them which originated from British and Japanese attitudes towards the arts. Thus, I compared both ideas and point out their similarities and differences