Section of Chapter 21 of the Medium-Length Agon Sutra

Object Details

• Provenance

  ?-2001

  Hakoichi & Co., Kyoto, Japan, method of acquisition unknown [1]

  2001-2013

  Sylvan Barnet (1926-2016) and William Burto (1921-2013) (owned jointly), purchased from Shoichiro Mizutani, Kyoto, Japan, through James Freeman [2]

  2013-2014

  Sylvan Barnet and National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, bequeathed by William Burto to the Smithsonian [3]

  From 2014

  National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, gift of Sylvan Barnet and William Burto [4]

  Notes:

  [1] See object file for copy of email from Sylvan Barnet and Willian Burto to Andreas Leisinger, with a print date of December 25, 2001. Barnet and Burto wrote, “As you know, we recently bought from Jim Freeman a longish section of the Chūagon-Kyō, mounted as a hanging scroll. Specifically, it is from chapter 21, dated 759. It is the final portion of the scroll, so it includes details concerning the production – names of scribes, etc. In fact, the piece was not Jim’s; he had merely borrowed it from Mizutani. It turns out that Mizutani’s piece was longer than what we now own as a mounted piece, i.e. Mizutani cut off a few lines – maybe eight or so. When we bought the mounted piece, we were also buying the severed fragment.” The purpose of their email to Leisinger is to request his help in finding a buyer for the fragment, which at the writing of the email was still in Jim Freeman’s possession. An email reply from Leisinger to Barnet and Burto, dated January 12, 2002, confirms that Freeman (presumably already in Japan) would travel with the fragment to Tokyo, where Leisinger would take possession and try to find an interested party.

  See also FedEx invoice no. 7-127-64979, dated November 16, 2001, to Sylvan Barnet. The sender is Shoichiro Mizutani, “Hakoichi & Co.” of Kyoto, Japan. The attached FedEx form for the Department of the Treasury-U.S. Customs Service describes the contents of the shipment as “Other printed matter.”

  Mizutani Shōichirō is a dealer in Japanese art based in Kyoto, Japan, and the son of prominent Kyoto art dealer Mizutani Nisaburō (1910-1985). Since at least 1974 Shōichirō has operated under several names, including “Far Eastern Ancient Graphic Arts and Ceramics,” “Shūkodō Oriental Art,” and “Hakoichi & Co.,” respectively. Shōichirō has been active since at least the early 1970s, and numerous American museums and collectors have acquired works through his gallery.

  Andreas Leisinger is a scholar, collector, and dealer of Japanese art, notably works relating to Buddhist themes and calligraphy. An acquaintance and editorial colleague of the collectors Sylvan Barnet and William Burto, Leisinger lived in Kanagawa prefecture, Japan, from at least the 1980s through the 1990s. As a scholar he contributed to numerous German-language works on Buddhist art by translating them, including “Zen Masters of Meditation in Images and Writings,” by Helmut Brinker and Hiroshi Kanazawa. Numerous American museums have acquired objects from his collection.

  James (Jim) Freeman (b. ca. 1941) is a connoisseur, collector, and dealer of Asian art. He was born in Oklahoma and raised in Houston Texas. After attending Princeton for undergraduate and Harvard for graduate studies, Freeman moved to Kyoto, Japan in 1968. Soon after arriving in Kyoto, he began dealing in Japanese art, focusing on the sale of ceramics and calligraphy. Several museums in the United States have acquired objects from Freeman throughout his career. Following the death of his partner, Kume Isao (1938-2008), Freeman moved to Bangkok, Thailand, in 2008, and shifted his collecting focus to contemporary Southeast Asian art.

  [2] See note 1, and see Miyeko Murase, et al., “The Written Image: Japanese Calligraphy and Painting from the Sylvan Barnet and William Burto Collection” [exhibition catalog] (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 1, 2002- March 2, 2003), pp. 43-45; cat. 3. See also object file F2014.6.1-19 “Japan, Heian period, Group of Calligraphies, Gift of Sylvan Barnet and William Burto. Documents: 2004-2013” for Gift Agreement between the Smithsonian Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and Sylvan Barnet and William Burto. Signed by the Director on August 9, 2004, and counter-signed by Barnet and Burto August 13, 2004. The object is described as “Section of the Medium-Length Agon Sutra, chapter 21; ELS2004.1.4.” Additionally, see object file for a copy of the “Will of William Burto,” signed and dated February 14, 2011, Article I, “Executor. I appoint Sylvan Barnet, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, to be Executor of this will,” and Article II, “I give my art collection as follows: (1) To the Smithsonian Institution, Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., all of my right, title and interest, including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, all copyright and associated rights, in the following works of art,” including “Section of the Medium-Length Agon Sutra, chapter 21,” described as “Segment of a handscroll mounted as a hanging scroll; ink on paper.” See also The William Burto Revocable Trust, signed and dated June 9, 2011.

  Sylvan Barnet (1926-2015) and William Burto (1921-2013) were scholars of English literature and collectors of Asian art, focusing on Korean and Japanese works. The two amassed one of the finest private collections of Zen calligraphy, which featured works from the Nara through the Edo periods. As a professor of English literature at Tufts University in the early 1960s, Barnet proposed unique editions of Shakespeare plays, complete with introductions and study aids, to New American Library. The publishing house would produce “The Signet Classic Shakespeare” from 1963 to 1972. Barnet served as general editor as well as providing introductions for several plays, and these popular editions were widely adopted by universities throughout the United States.

  Barnet and Burto purchased their first object, a Korean celadon bowl, in New York in 1963. Just a few years later, they purchased their first calligraphy from Nathan V. Hammer, a work by Jiun Onkō. Following William Burto’s death in 2013, his half of the collection was given to the The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Harvard Art Museums; Metropolitan Museum of Art; and the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, respectively. Before his death in 2016, Sylvan Barnet donated his half of the collection to the same institutions.

  [3] See note [2], and object file F2014.6.1-19 “Japan, Heian period, Group of Calligraphies, Gift of Sylvan Barnet and William Burto. Acquisition papers,” for Deed of Gift signed by Sylvan Barnet September 24, 2014, and counter-signed by the Director October 7, 2014. In the attached object list, it is noted that Barnet is giving the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, his “50% share of ownership of: Section of Chapter 21 of the Medium-Length Agon Sutra” described as “Nara period, 759; Japan; Ink on paper,” with the credit line “Gift of Sylvan Barnet and William Burto.” This object is part of the Museum’s Freer Gallery of Art Collection.

  [4] See notes 2 and 3.

  Research updated July 31, 2024

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Faith and Form: Selected Calligraphy and Painting from the Japanese Religious Traditions (March 20 to July 18, 2004)

  The Written Image: Japanese Calligraphy and Painting from the Sylvan Barnet and William Burto Collection (October 1, 2002 to March 02, 2003)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Shoichiro Mizutani

  William Burto (1921-2013)

  Sylvan Barnet (1926-2015)

• Origin

  Japan

• Credit Line

  Gift of Sylvan Barnet and William Burto

• Type

  Calligraphy

• Restrictions and Rights

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  700s

• Name

  Mizutani, Shoichiro, Barnet, Sylvan, Burto, William

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Late Nara (Tempyo) period (710 - 794), Art, Japanese Art, Sutra

• Culture

  Buddhists, Japanese

• Object Type

  Calligraphy (visual works)