H x W (image): 125.3 × 51.8 cm (49 5/16 × 20 3/8 in)
Type:
Painting
Origin:
Japan
Date:
18th century
Period:
Edo period
Provenance:
By at least 1955-no later than 1957
Mayuyama & Co., Ltd., Tokyo, method of acquisition unknown [1]
By at least 1957-1958
Howard Hollis and Company, Cleveland, method of acquisition unknown [2]
From 1958
Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Howard Hollis and Company, Cleveland [3]
Notes:
[1] See “Flowers,” in “Kokka” [journal] #762 (September 1955): pl. 6. Cited as being “In the possession of the Mayuyama Ryûsendô, Tokyo. Mayuyama Ryûsendô (Mayuyama & Co.,) was founded by Matsutarô Mayuyama (1882-1935), with its first Tokyo location opening in 1916. After Matsutarô’s death, his eldest son Junkichi (1913-1999) led Mayuyama & Co.
[2] See Freer Gallery of Art vault card 79.57, copy in object file, which shows that Howard Hollis, owner of Howard Hollis & Company, left the object at the Freer on April 19, 1957. See also June 20, 1957 letter from A.G. Wenley to Howard Hollis, copy in object file, where Wenley wrote, “Now in regard to the things of yours that we have here…and the Japanese wistaria [sic] and flower painting by Roshū.” Howard Hollis was Curator of Far Eastern and Near Eastern Art at the Cleveland Museum of Art from 1929 until serving as Officer in Charge of the Far East division of the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives (MFAA) program in Tokyo in 1946; he resumed his post in Cleveland in 1948. He founded Howard Hollis & Company, specializing in Asian Art in Cleveland, which he expanded to a second location in 1961 in New York City. Hollis frequently partnered with Junkichi Mayuyama (1913-1999) of Mayuyama & Co., Ltd.
[3] See object file for copy of Howard Hollis & Company invoice to Freer Gallery of Art, dated August 9, 1958, and marked approved by the Secretary on September 12, 1957.
Research updated April 4, 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)
East of Eden: Gardens in Asian Art (February 24 to May 13, 2007)
More Than Flowers: Sources of Tradition in Japanese Painting (September 2, 2001 to November 24, 2002)
Birds and Flowers of the Four Seasons in Japanese Art (September 14, 1977 to April 8, 1978)
Japanese Art—Paintings (September 16, 1970 to May 2, 1973)
Japanese Art, Galleries 3, 4, and 5 (January 1, 1963 to September 16, 1970)
Special Exhibition—Japanese Art (October 16, 1963 to August 18, 1967)
Centennial Exhibition, Galleries 3 and 4 (February 25, 1956 to January 1, 1963)
