Student Picks: Zeal and Discontent

Student Picks is a SCMA program in which Smith students organize their own one-day art show using our collection of works on paper. This month’s student curator and guest blogger Junmanee Cadenhead '16 discusses her show "Zeal and Discontent: Ecstatic Scenes in Japanese Art" which will be on view FRIDAY, March 4 from 12-4 PM in the Cunningham Center for the Study of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs. We hope to see you there!

Silly monsters and bored figures adorned in beautiful textiles are juxtaposed with overwhelming scenes of distress spattering the corners of the Cunningham Center. Japanese prints have inspired artists for centuries yet are seldom given the attention they deserve. 

^{Unknown. Japanese. Monster, n.d. Woodcut printed in color on paper. Bequest of Henry L. Seaver. SC 1976.54.456.} 

This exhibition celebrates the bold and dynamic lines of Hokusai, the calm and mysterious landscapes of Hiroshige, and the glimpses of everyday life by Toyokuni. 

^{Toyokuni III (Utagawa Kunisada). Japanese, 1786–1865. Ichikawa Danjûrô VIII as Minamoto No Yoshitsune, ca. 1850. Woodcut printed in color on paper. Gift of Marjary G. Lund, class of 1902. SC 1950.10.16.} 

This entire process of combing through the collection and pulling out the beautiful art work exhibited today has been a remarkable experience. I’m proud to bring these powerful pieces to light and relish in the opportunity to share them with the public. 

^{Katsushika Hokusai. Japanese, 1760–1849. Faces, from Hokusai Manga (Random Sketches by Hokusai), Series VIII, 1818. Woodcut printed in color on paper. Gift of Mrs. Arthur B. Schaffner in memory of Louise Stevens Bryant, class of 1908. SC 1959.271a.}