Snipe Over a Marsh from the Three Dusks

Object Details

• Artist

  Kano Tan'yu 狩野探幽 (1602-1674)

• Label

  The "Three Dusks" or "Three Evening Poems" is a famous group of three poems by three different authors. The poems are recorded in the imperial poetry anthology Shin kokinshu, compiled in the early thirteenth century. The poem below, composed by the Buddhist monk Saigyo (1118-1190), is inscribed on this painting by Kano Tan'yu, one of the leading artists of the seventeenth century.

  While denying his heart,

  Even a priest must feel his body knows

  The depth of a sad beauty:

  From a marsh at autumn twilight

  Snipes that rise and wing away.

  Using only the palest tones of ink and tints of translucent color, Tan'yu has created a subtle and indefinite pictorial image that echoes the mood of the poem. The refined and elegant calligraphy of the inscription is attributed to Imperial Prince Ryosho (1622-1693), who became a Buddhist monk in 1634.

  Translation by Robert H. Brower and Earl Miner, Japanese Court Poetry (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1961)

• Provenance

  To 1904

  Michael Tomkinson (1841-1921), Kidderminster, England, to 1904 [1]

  From 1904 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Michael Tomkinson in 1904 [2]

  From 1920

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

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Kakemono Reserved List, R. 397, pg. 10, 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

  More Than Flowers: Sources of Tradition in Japanese Painting (September 2, 2001 to November 24, 2002)

  Whistler & Japan (May 14, 1995 to January 1, 1996)

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

  Autumn Colors (October 19 to December 20, 1984)

  Japanese Ceramics from Past to Present (February 18, 1983 to February 16, 1984)

  Studies in Connoisseurship 1923-1983 (September 23, 1983 to March 1, 1984)

  Japanese Art—Autumn Voices (October 14, 1981 to December 16, 1981)

• 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)

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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

  Freer, Charles Lang, Tomkinson, Michael

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Snipe, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Japanese Art, Kakemono

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Paintings