Ryogoku Bridge

Object Details

• Artist

  Utagawa Toyoharu (1735-1814)

• School/Tradition

  Ukiyo-e

• Label

  Spanning the broad Sumida River, the Ryogoku Bridge was a popular site for entertainment in Edo (modern Tokyo). In this detailed panoramic view, the artist Toyoharu focuses on activities along the west bank of the river, where people representing many classes of society and whose status is distinguished by their dress, stroll to and from the bridge along a roadway lined with shops. Pleasure boats make their way beneath the bridge. The pagoda and roof of the Sensoji, a temple in Asakusa dedicated to the Buddhist deity Kannon, appears in the distance to the left of the bridge. Although space is compressed in this view, the artist endeavored to render a contemporary scene with realism and accuracy. He employs some of the principles of perspective found in European art that had begun to interest Japanese artists beginning in the eighteenth century.

• Provenance

  To 1903

  Bunshichi Kobayashi (circa 1861-1923), Boston, San Francisco, Tokyo, and Yokohama, to 1903 [1]

  From 1903 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Bunshichi Kobayashi in 1903 [2]

  From 1920

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

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Panel List, pg. 8, 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

  The Traveler's Eye: Scenes of Asia (November 22, 2014 to March 31, 2015)

  Japanese Arts in the Edo Period: 1615-1868, part 2 (March 8 to October 19, 2008)

  Real and Imagined Places in Japanese Art (March 4 to October 21, 2001)

  Japanese Art (May 9, 1993 to August 1, 1994)

  Bicentennial Exhibition: Japanese Art (December 15, 1975 to November 10, 1976)

  Japanese Ukiyo-e Painting (May 2, 1973 to July 1, 1974)

  Japanese Art—Paintings, Pottery (August 18, 1967 to September 20, 1971)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Kobayashi Bunshichi 小林文七 (ca. 1861-1923) (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)

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• 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

  Kobayashi, Bunshichi, Freer, Charles Lang

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Water, Bridges, Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Japanese Art, Ukiyo-e, Rivers, Kakemono

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Paintings