JASA: 02/06/17 Bailey Lecture 

LECTURE: Flash of Light, Fog of War: Illumination and Innovation in Senso-e by Bradley M. Bailey

Senso-e, or "war pictures," of the Russo- and Sino-Japanese Wars represent the twilight of large-scale commercial Japanese printmaking. While based on the centuries-old tradition of ukiyo-e, they also showcase the sweeping changes and modernity of the Meiji era. This presentation, based loosely on the upcoming exhibition at the Ackland Art Museum at UNC Chapel Hill, will examine the modern innovations of Japanese woodblock prints of the period, with special emphasis on technologies of war, such as shipbuilding, printing, and above all, light.

Bradley M. Bailey is Associate Curator of Asian Art at the Ackland Art Museum at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. A specialist in 19th century Japanese art, Bailey holds PhD and  undergraduate degrees in the History of Art from Yale University. In addition, he has an MBA from the Yale School of Management, where he focused on the economics of art, museums, and foundations. In addition to the "Flash of Light, Fog of War," Bailey is redesigning and reinstalling the Ackland's Asian galleries (opened December 2016) and is researching a show on metalwork of the Meiji and Taisho eras. In his (meager) spare time, he is translating the complete writings of the Japanese yoga painter Aoki Shigeru.