A selection of paintings and graphic artworks from Japan depicting people and spanning the 15th century to the present day are at the heart of this exhibition of items from the museum’s collection.

In Japan, as elsewhere, depictions of humans constitute some of the earliest examples of artistic expression; here, they were presented inside tombs in the form of three-dimensional ceramic figures from roughly the third to the sixth century of the Common Era. When Buddhism was introduced to Japan from the mainland in the sixth century, artistic imagery began not only to depict sacred beings modelled on the human figure, such as Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, but also dignitaries and preeminent religious practitioners who were responsible for establishing temples or new teachings. This exhibition features two 18th-century portraits of abbots who practiced the form of Buddhism that is commonly known in Japan as Zen, which have been loaned to Berlin by the Nuremberg Municipal Museums. In addition to these, two further portraits of high-ranking monks who were practitioners of the rather secretive Esoteric Buddhism are also being exhibited for the first time ever and for the first time since undergoing restoration in Japan.

In Japan, depictions of rulers were for the most part restricted until the early modern period to portraits produced as part of the Buddhist cult of remembrance and were only ever accessible to a very limited circle of people. This absence of direct representations of rulers in the public sphere shielded them from popular scrutiny and made them seem more or less untouchable. Idealised depictions of court aristocrats, on the other hand, can be found in images from literary works such as the Tale of the Young Celestial Prince (Amewakahiko no sōshi) from the 15th century. Based on a Chinese legend, the tale describes the ill-fated love affair between the Celestial Weaver and the young Prince of Heaven, with the two figures serving as personifications of the stars Vega and Altair. Separated from one another by the prince’s parents, the pair are only able to reunite once a year, on the seventh day of the seventh month. This date is still celebrated in Japan today as Tanabata, the day of lovers, literature and special talents.

With the advent of urban consumer and entertainment cultures from the 16th century onwards, actors, dancers and other figures from the entertainment world who had previously received little attention and were otherwise considered to be of lower social standing came to enjoy increasing acclaim, being celebrated in paintings and (colour) woodblock prints as style icons and fashionable role models. The beauty and eroticism inherent in these portraits, as well as the subtle play with the often fluid performance of gender are still very much relevant today and are echoed within the same exhibition in three contemporary graphic artworks by the artists Kimura Ryōko and Morimura Yasumasa.

Monks and Scholars, Dancers and Courtesans: Depictions of People in Art from Japan is a temporary rotating exhibition of the Museum für Asiatische Kunst at the Humboldt Forum, Room 318, “Art from Japan”.