Artist: Yoshitora
VC Image Number: Y0141
This scene is described as being an overview a party being hosted within a large mercantile firm. The scene depicts the inter mingling of Japanese courtesans with Americans, and the convergence of these two distinctly different cultures is represented by the various iconic elements within the print, such as the American flag in the upper left corn, the traditional Japanese garments, whose colorations seems to echo that of the American flag (i.e. red, white, and blue). The image's description states that the artists knowledge of Western culture seems to have failed him with respect to musical instruments as the samisen is not be held in the proper position for it to be played. Upon my inspection of the piece I noted the distinctly Western style ships in the harbor, and the curious expressions upon the Japanese figures within the print, noting that the convergence of the two cultures was met with overt curiosity and inquisition. With regard to the readings assigned for this week, I noted that the intended subject matter of this piece appears to be the convergences of two independent cultures and how they intermingles and interact with one another. While this image captures a scene from the Japanese perspective, the intended gaze appears to be from a neutral party, simply observing the happenings of this scene.
Title: New Invention: Picture of the Interior Works of a German Battleship
Artist: Unsen
VC Image Number: Y0072
This image certainly demonstrations the innate curiosity of the Japanese audience, as the artist depicts the inner workings of a German battleship, he describes the various components of the ship in compartmentalized scenes displaying groups of German soldiers preforming assorted duties. Unsen is descriptor as being a specialists with regard to depicting Western ships, and within this portrayal Usen goes above and beyond with regard to detail as many compartments are labeled with captions describing their contents.
No comments:
Post a Comment