Country Scenes and Mount Fuji; one of a pair with F1902.49

Maker(s)
Artist: Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾北斎 (1760-1849)
Historical period(s)
Edo period, ca. 1830-1832
School
Ukiyo-e
Medium
Ink, color and gold on paper
Dimensions
H x W (overall): 169.1 x 369.8 cm (66 9/16 x 145 9/16 in)
Geography
Japan
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1902.48
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Painting
Type

Screen (six-panel)

Keywords
child, Edo period (1615 - 1868), Japan, landscape, Mount Fuji, ukiyo-e, work
Provenance

To 1902
Ernest Francisco Fenollosa (1853-1908), New York, NY, and Spring Hill, AL, to 1902 [1]

From 1902 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Ernest Francisco Fenollosa in 1902 [2]

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

Notes:

[1] Undated folder sheet note, Object file. See also Original Screen List, pg. 13, 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)

Ernest Francisco Fenollosa (C.L. Freer source) 1853-1908
Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919

Label

During the Edo period (1615-1868), ukiyo-e artists like Hokusai were considered mere "painting artisans" (gako). Large-scale works, such as folding screens or sets of sliding doors, remained the preserve of officially employed artists and certain designated townsman painters. Hokusai, despite his fame, painted only a limited number of screens. Most of his large-scale works are in the collection of the Freer Gallery of Art, reflecting Charles Lang Freer's determination to build the finest Hokusai painting collection in the world.


Hokusai created a landscape with Mount Fuji rising in the distance, a true genre scene that extends on an exceptionally grand scale across a pair of folding screens. The work most likely dates from the period when the artist was designing the famous print series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjvrokkei, early 1830s), and its commission may have been related to the success of that series. The quality of painting, unusual coloration, and embellishment with gold make this a masterpiece that must have been requested by a wealthy patron.

Published References
  • Ernest Francisco Fenollosa. The masters of Ukioye: A complete historical description of Japanese paintings and color prints of the Genre school as shown in exhibition at the Fine arts building N.Y., Jan. 1896. Exh. cat. New York. no. 385 and 386.
  • Ernest Francisco Fenollosa, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Hokusai and his school. Exh. cat. Boston. no. 145-146.
  • Harold P. Stern, Narasaki Muneshige. Ukiyo-e shuka. vol. 16, Tokyo. no. 144, vol. 16.
  • Ernest Francisco Fenollosa. Catalogue of the Exhibition of Paintings of Hokusai: Held at the Japan Fine Art Association, Uyeno Park, Tókio, from 13th to 30th January, 1900. Exh. cat. Tokyo, January 13 - 30, 1900. no. 170.
  • Ann Yonemura, Nagata Seiji, Kobayashi Tadashi, Asano Shugo, Timothy Clark, Naito Masatoshi. Hokusai: Volume Two. Exh. cat. Washington, 2006. cat. 88, p. 33, 78.
  • Harold P. Stern. Hokusai: Paintings and Drawings in the Freer Gallery of Art. Exh. cat. Washington. cat. 34, p. 37.
  • Thomas Lawton, Linda Merrill. Freer: a legacy of art. Washington and New York, 1993. p. 138, fig. 92.
  • Ann Yonemura. Hokusai: Volume One. Exh. cat. Washington, 2006. cat. 110, pp. 167-71.
  • Bradley Smith. Japan: a history in art. New York. p. 212.
  • Harold P. Stern. Ukiyo-e Painting: Freer Gallery of Art Fiftieth Anniversary Exhibition. Exh. cat. Washington and Baltimore, 1973. cat. 93, pp. 252-253.
Collection Area(s)
Japanese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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