The Process of Institutionalization of Art Criticism in Japan : A Review of Critical Practices in the Meiji Period

[Abstract] Seeking the historical origins of art criticism within the Japanese context, this paper focuses on the establishment of the Bunten in 1907. It reexamines prior research on the state of art criticism―specifically the discourse regarding art itself and the practice of evaluating artworks and artists―to clarify the fluidity of its situation at that time. By building on this reexamination, this paper argues that the pluralistic nature of the state of art criticism made clear the need for institutionalization, prompting the demand for its specific formalization: criteria, methods, agents, and appreciation. This fluidity prompted the demand for specific formalization―criteria, methods, agents, and appreciation―ultimately laying the foundation for the Bunten to establish art criticism as a social system