Two Entertainers Strolling on the New Year

Object Details

• Artist

  Attributed to Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾北斎 (1760-1849)

• 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.

• 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.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Hokusai: Mad About Painting (November 20, 2019 to January 9, 2022)

  Hokusai (October 25, 2005 to May 14, 2006)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Michael Tomkinson (1841-1921) (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  Japan

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

  This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

  The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections.

Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1700s, 1710s, 1720s, 1770s, 1780s, 1790s, 1730s, 1740s, 1750s, 1760s, 1800s, 1810s, 1820s, 1830s, 1610s, 1650s, 1640s, 1630s, 1620s, 1690s, 1840s, 1680s, 1850s, 1670s, 1860s, 1660s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Tomkinson, Michael

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  New year, Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Japanese Art, Ukiyo-e, Kakemono

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Paintings