Freya Terryn, PhD
Freya Terryn
Postdoctoral researcher in Japanese Art History, UCLouvain
Scientific Curator of Japanese Donation at the Rare Books Reserve, UCLouvain Libraries
Hi!
I am a scholar of the arts and visual cultures of 18th- to the early 20th-century Japan, with a particular focus on the visual and textual products of the printing industry - including prints, illustrated books, and paintings. My research examines the relationships between governing bodies and artists, artistic and commercial collaboration, practices of pictorial quotation, exhibition culture, and the formation of European collections of Japanese art.
Currently, I work at the Institute for the Study of Civilisations, Arts and Lettres (INCAL) of UCLouvain, where I conduct a research project on the 1920s Japanese donation (almost 14 000 volumes dating from the 12th century to the 1920s), that is part of the Rare Books Reserve of the UCLouvain Libraries.​
My research
My research interests originate from a longstanding engagement with Japanese visual culture, particularly print culture. This fascination, initially sparked by my experience with Western reprographic media such as etching and linocuts, has developed into a sustained academic pursuit. I approach Japanese visual culture with a firm belief that ‘context matters’—to truly engage with these works, one must ‘read’ them correctly (from right to left) and interpret them within their sociohistorical contexts of production, collaboration, and reception.
Hiroshige Studio
Japanese Donation at UCL
Japanese Painting Manuals
My work has been generously funded and supported by the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO),
Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz, National Museum of Asian Art (Smithsonian Institution),
Ishibashi Foundation / Japan Foundation, Fund for Scientific Research (F.R.S.–FNRS),
and the Institute for the Study of Civilisations, Arts and Lettres (INCAL).
