Two Entertainers Strolling on the New Year

Maker(s)
Artist: Attributed to Katsushika Hokusai θ‘›ι£ΎεŒ—ζ–Ž (1760-1849)
Historical period(s)
Edo period, ca. 1798-1801
Medium
Ink and color on paper
Dimensions
H x W (image): 114.9 Γ— 51.9 cm (45 1/4 Γ— 20 7/16 in)
Geography
Japan
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1902.178
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Painting
Type

Hanging scroll

Keywords
Edo period (1615 - 1868), Japan, kakemono, new year, ukiyo-e
Provenance

To 1902
Michael Tomkinson (1841-1921), Kidderminster, England, to 1902 [1]

From 1902 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Michael Tomkinson in 1902 [2]

From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

Notes:

[1] Undated folder sheet note. See Original Kakemono List, L. 462, pg. 126, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

[2] See note 1.

[3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Michael Tomkinson (C.L. Freer source) 1841-1921
Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919

Label

This painting portrays a man and a boy strolling with a small dog near an arrangement of pine and bamboo, decorations set up for the New Year. The unsigned painting was attributed to Hokusai when Charles Lang Freer purchased it in 1902 from the English collector Michael Tomkinson (1841-1921). Research of Hokusai's paintings has focused on signed works, but similarities between this unsigned one and other early works have again raised the possibility that this painting is by Hokusai. However, some scholars maintain that one of Hokusai's many pupils painted this work.

Published References
  • Ann Yonemura, Nagata Seiji, Kobayashi Tadashi, Asano Shugo, Timothy Clark, Naito Masatoshi. Hokusai: Volume Two. Exh. cat. Washington, 2006. cat. 25, p. 38, 52.
  • Ann Yonemura. Hokusai: Volume One. Exh. cat. Washington, 2006. cat. 39, p. 49.
Collection Area(s)
Japanese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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