Bridging Cultures: Samurai and the World of Painting Talk with Constantine Vaporis

We don’t usually think of Japan’s samurai as painters, but a number of the country’s famous twin-sworded men are renowned for their pursuit of a life in the visual arts while serving their feudal lords. In this lecture, historian Dr. Constantine Vaporis brings Japanese history and culture together as he explores the fascinating lives of two such samurai, Odano Naotake (1750-80) and Kakizaki Hakyō (1764-1826), to analyze how their body of work as painters functioned to bridge the considerable cultural gap between East and West at a time when Japan was reputed to have been isolated from the world. Join us for this exceptional opportunity set amidst Highfield’s exhibit Trailblazers: Celebrating Contemporary Japanese Prints.

Vaporis teaches Japanese and East Asian history at University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He has received numerous fellowships for research in Japanese history including two Fulbright Scholar’s Award and an NEH Fellowship for College Teachers, and is the author of six books including The Samurai Encyclopedia and the forthcoming The Samurai. A Biography in Twelve Lives, to be published by Oxford University Press in 2025

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