Before the Meiji period, women were typically portrayed as idolized beauties, fitting within the contemporary beauty ideals. However, due to the new influences coming from the West after the...Show moreBefore the Meiji period, women were typically portrayed as idolized beauties, fitting within the contemporary beauty ideals. However, due to the new influences coming from the West after the opening of the borders, artists started to challenge this standard bijin mode of representing women. Artists such as Kajiwara Hisako, Tadaoto Kainoshō and Chigusa Sōn created paintings depicting women in a whole new manner compared to former periods. While previously women were often shown as the epitome of beauty and sophistication, now there was room for representations of women who weren’t perfect nor appealed to the society’s beauty standards. This thesis analyses how male and female nihonga artists created anti-bijin in response to social and artistic developments in Meiji and Taisho Japan. Furthermore, it explores how and to what extent these works broke away from the bijin ideal and what the driving force was behind the creation of these works.Show less
