John Carpenter continues to work on topics related to the interaction of Japanese literature and visual arts. Expanding on his previous doctoral research on the calligraphy by Fujiwara no Yukinari, a high-ranked courtier of the early 11th century Heian court, his forthcoming monograph traces aesthetic, social and political aspects of the practice of calligraphy in early medieval Japan. Related to work on court calligraphy carried out in Kyoto at the Art Research Center, Ritsumeikan University, he continues to research and publish on the topic of calligraphy by emperors of premodern Japan. He also is the organizer of the Japanese Literature in Art Colloquy (JLAC) series under the auspices of the Sainsbury Institute, which sponsors international workshops on topics related to interaction of literary and pictorial arts in the Japanese tradition. The project supports publications related to the colloquies including specialized collaborative projects, proceedings volumes, and online databases. One of the major projects underway is publication project to study and translate actor surimono in Edo, with special attention to ukiyo-e artists' interaction with kyôka poetry groups, kabuki fan clubs.
After receiving a BA in English Literature from the University of Notre Dame, John Carpenter lived and travelled in various Asian countries, including several years in Japan. After taking courses in Japanese language and calligraphy at Rikkyo University, Tokyo, he entered the graduate programme in East Asian Languages and Cultures at Columbia University in 1987. His PhD research focussed on calligraphy of 11th century Japanese court. His interests in image/text relationships extend to later periods as well, and he has written extensively on literary aspects of Japanese paintings and prints of the Edo period (17th –19th centuries). Before moving to London, he taught courses in the history of East Asian art at the New School for Social Research in New York City, University of Washington in Seattle, and Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. He also currently serves as the Head of the London Office of the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Arts and Cultures. During the 2009-10 academic year he is teaching courses on the history of premodern Japanese calligraphy, painting and prints at the University of Tokyo.
John T. Carpenter, with Matsumoto Ikuyo, Kawashima Masao. and Kaneko Takaaki, Imperial Calligraphy of Premodern Japan: Scribal Conventions for Poems and Letters from the Palace. Art Research Center, Ritsumeikan University (Kyoto) & Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures, 2006.
John T. Carpenter, ed., Reading Surimono: The Interplay of Text and Image in Japanese Prints. Leiden: Brill; Boston: Hotei Publishing, 2008.
John T. Carpenter, ed., Hokusai and His Age: Ukiyo-e Painting, Printmaking and Book Illustration in Late Edo Japan. Amsterdam: Hotei Publishing, 2006.
Gian Carlo Calza and John T. Carpenter, eds. Hokusai Paintings: Selected Essays. Venice: The International Hokusai Research Centre, University of Venice, 1994.
Joan B. Mirviss and John T. Carpenter, Jewels of Japanese Printmaking: Surimono of the Bunka-Bunsei Era (1804-1830). Tokyo: Ota Memorial Museum & Nihon Keizai Shinbun, 2001.
Joan B. Mirviss and John T. Carpenter, The Frank Lloyd Wright Collection of Surimono. New York: Weatherhill; Phoenix, Ariz.: Phoenix Art Museum, 1995.
John Carpenter’s SOAS staff page:
http://www.soas.ac.uk/staff/staff30727.php
SOAS website:
www.soas.ac.uk/art
Sainsbury Institute Website
www.sainsbury-institute.org/