Kabuki Actor Sawamura Sojuro III

Object Details

• Artist

  Utagawa Toyokuni I 歌川豊国 (1769-1825)

• Provenance

  To 1971

  Hans Popper (1904-1971) method of acquisition unknown [1]

  1971

  Estate of Hans Popper, by inheritance [2]

  1972

  Sale, New York, Sotheby Parke Bernet, "The Hans Popper Collection of Japanese Prints," October 5-6, 1972, lot 241 [3]

  1972-1987

  H. George Mann (b.1938), purchase from Sotheby Parke Bernet sale [4]

  1987

  Sale, New York, Christie's, "Fine and Important Japanese Works of Art From Various Collections," April 22, 1987, lot 198 [5]

  1987-2004

  Anne van Biema (1915-2004) purchased at Christie's sale [6]

  2004

  Estate of Mrs. Anne J. van Biema by inheritance [7]

  From 2004

  Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, gift of Estate of Mrs. Anne J. van Biema [8]

  NOTES:

  [1] See note 3. Hans Popper was a Viennese businessman and an accomplished amateur musician who resided in San Francisco, California. He specialized in the management and sale of commercial metals.

  He lived and worked in Japan for several years, selling salvaged metal. While living in Japan, he began to collect Japanese prints. By his death in 1971, he had amassed a collection of over 300 works of art that included important masterpieces by such artists as Hokusai, Harunobu, Utamaro, and Sharaku.

  [2] The Sotheby Parke Bernet auction held in 1972 cites the Estate of Hans Popper as owner. See note 3.

  [3] Sotheby Parke Bernet, "The Hans Popper Collection of Japanese Prints" [auction catalogue](New York, October 5-6, 1972), lot 241.

  [4] See H. George Mann, "Sixty Years with Japanese Prints" eds. Julia Meech and Jane Oliver [book] (Highland Park: H. George Mann, 2021), p. 30. Mann reports that he "... loved the print in 1972 when I bought it at the Hans Popper sale."

  [5] Christie's, "Fine and Important Japanese Works of Art from Various Collections" [auction catalogue] (New York, April 22, 1987), lot 198. See also H. George Mann, "Sixty Years with Japanese Prints," 30.

  [6] Anne J. van Biema was an active member and officer of the Ukiyo-e Society of America (now known as the Japanese Art Society of America). She was among the earliest women to avidly collect in the area of Japanese woodblock prints. For an account of van Biema's purchase, see H. George Mann, 30.

  [7] The Estate of Anne J. van Biema inherited upon her death and managed the transfer of property rights to the Freer Gallery of Art.

  [8] See gift agreement, April 4, 2004, copy in object file.

  Research completed February 3, 2022

• Collection

  National Museum of Asian Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Masterful Illusions: Japanese Prints from the Anne van Biema Collection (September 15, 2002 to January 9, 2003)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Hans Popper (United States, born Austria, 1904-1971)

  H. George Mann

  Anne van Biema (1915-2004)

• Origin

  Japan

• Credit Line

  The Anne van Biema Collection

• Type

  Print

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. 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.

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• 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

  Popper, Hans, van Biema, Anne, Mann, H. George

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Theater, Yakusha-e, Warrior, Aiban, Art, Actors and actresses, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Japanese Art, Anne van Biema collection, Portraits, Ukiyo-e

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Prints