Poppies and Butterfly

Object Details

• Artist

  Suzuki Kiitsu 鈴木其一 (1796-1858)

• Label

  Kiitsu was the successor to Sakai Hoitsu (1761-1828), who had single-handedly revived and expanded the Rimpa style in Edo (present-day Tokyo). In 1815, Hoitsu's research of the paintings of Ogata Korin (1658-1716) resulted in a printed catalogue of the earlier master's works. Under Hoitsu, Edo-style Rimpa acquired a feeling of polish and quasirealism that distinguished it from styles popular in Kyoto, such as Hochu's persimmons in this gallery.

  Kiitsu's study of attenuated and gently curving poppies provides provocative compositional tension. The painter hints that the composition's light creature on an equally delicate blossom endangers the balance of the whole.

• Provenance

  ?-1997

  Toyobi Far Eastern Art, New York, method of acquisition unknown [1]

  From 1997

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Toyobi Far Eastern Art, New York [2]

  Notes:

  [1] See object file for copy of Freer Gallery of Art vault record no. V17.97.2, for “Poppies

  and Butterfly” by Suzuki Kiitsu , which was deposited at the Freer for examination on May 12, 1997, by Dr. Frederick Baekeland of Toyobi Far Eastern Art. Dr. Frederick Baekeland (1928-2017) was a psychiatrist, collector, and dealer of Asian – especially Japanese – art in New York. Dr. Baekeland was the grandson of Leo H. Baekeland (1863-1944), the Belgium-born inventor of Bakelite plastic. In 1976 Baekeland co-founded Toyobi Far Eastern Art, Inc. in New York, NY, with his wife, Joan Davis Baekeland (b. 1937).

  [2] See object file for invoice from Toyobi Far Eastern Art, Inc. to the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, dated June 2, 1997. The “Sold By” portion of the invoice was corrected by Joan D. Baekeland, changed from “Dr. Frederick Baekeland” to “Toyobi Far Eastern Art, Inc.”

  Research updated October 20, 2023

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Rinpa: Creativity Across Time and Space (October 1, 2022 to April 2, 2023)

  Bold and Beautiful: Rinpa in Japanese Art (June 28, 2015 to January 3, 2016)

  Japanese Arts in the Edo Period: 1615-1868, part 1 (August 18, 2007 to February 24, 2008)

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

  Selections from the Japanese Collection (March 22 to November 29, 1999)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Dr. Frederick Baekeland (1928-2017)

  Toyobi Far Eastern Art, Inc. (established 1979)

• Origin

  Japan

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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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, 1850s, 1680s, 1670s, 1860s, 1660s

• Name

  Toyobi Far Eastern Art, Inc., Baekeland, Frederick

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Art, Animals, Insects, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Japanese Art, Butterflies, Kakemono

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Paintings