PAIN’S PYROTECHNIC SPECTACLE
The Sino-Japanese War in Print
On view September 13, 2014–January 4, 2015
On the heels of a period of rapid modernization, the Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895) established Japan as the preeminent imperial power in East Asia. It also revitalized the centuries-old woodblock publishing industry in Japan, providing artists with exciting new subject matter, including explosions, naval battles, and advanced weaponry, and gave an eager public an action-packed view of the front lines. This special exhibition draws exclusively from Ruth S. Nelkin’s donation of prints to the Mead Art Museum.
In addition to the physical installation at the Mead, Pain’s Pyrotechnic Spectacle includes a digital exhibition (www.painspyrospectacle.com), featuring several woodblock triptychs and a special album titled “A True Account of the Sino-Japanese War”—on display for the first time—which contains a striking visual record of the conflict.
This special exhibition draws exclusively from Ruth S. Nelkin’s donation of prints to the Mead Art Museum.This exhibition, which is supported in part by the Hampshire College Institute for Curatorial Practice, has been co-curated by James Kelleher, Hampshire College ’17, and Bradley Bailey, the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Postdoctoral Curatorial Teaching Fellow in Japanese Prints.
Made possible with generous support from the the David W. Mesker, Class of 1953, Fund.