Winter landscape: a ravine

Object Details

• Artist

  Kano Hogai 狩野芳崖 (1828-1888)

• Label

  This evening landscape reflects the artist Kano Hogai's study of earlier Chinese and Japanese ink painters, including Sesshu (1420-1506). Many of Hogai's landscapes reflect his study of the dense rock and mountain compositions and the rendering of spatial depth that are characteristic of Sesshu. Hogai's approach to the traditional subject of ink landscape painting stresses dramatic compositions featuring strong contrasts of ink tonality and selective reduction of detail that creates a somewhat abstract image. Hogai had not yet begun his study of Western art, but his emphasis of rational articulation of space contributed to the acceptance of his work by foreign collectors and audiences.

  This landscape was exhibited in Japan in the 1884 Second Competitive Show for the Promotion of National Painting that was sponsored by the Meiji government to promote the preservation and revival of traditional painting at a time when Western painting was of increasing interest to some Japanese artists. The painting had been commissioned by the American educator and art patron Ernest F. Fenellosa, who had taken a personal interest in Hogai's work since seeing a painting of his in an exhibition the previous year.

• 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] See Original Kakemono List, L. 283, pg. 65, 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

  Freer: A Taste for Japanese Art (July 1, 2006 to January 1, 2007)

  Japanese Art of the Meiji Era (September 20, 1997 to April 26, 1998)

  Japanese Art (July 1, 1974 to April 10, 1978)

  Japanese Art (January 1, 1963 to July 1, 1966)

  Centennial Exhibition, Galleries 1 and 2 (February 25, 1956 to January 1, 1963)

  Untitled Exhibition, Japanese Paintings (October 25, 1955 to November 23, 1955)

  Untitled Exhibition, Japanese Art, 1951 (January 23, 1951 to February 25, 1956)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Ernest Francisco Fenollosa (1853-1908) (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

  1880s

• Name

  Fenollosa, Ernest Francisco, Freer, Charles Lang

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Charles Lang Freer collection, Landscapes, Art, Winter, Japanese Art, Meiji era (1868 - 1912), Kakemono

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Paintings