An investigation of Japanese painting and practice from the earliest pictorial representations through the late twentieth century. Painting style and connoisseurship will form the basis of analysis, and themes such as landscape, narrative, and the expression of cultural identities in painting, will be considered in the context of larger social and cultural issues. Topics include: tomb painting, Heian development of "yamato-e," ink painting and the adaptation of Chinese styles, the expansion of patronage in the 18th century, and the turn toward internationalism in the late 19th and 20th centuries. May include visits to the PMA or other local collections, as available.