A Crane

Object Details

Artist

Ozawa Nankoku (1844 -?)

Signatures

Signature reads "Done by Ozawa Nankoku".

Marks

Contains one seal; possibly reads: (?) Japan, Ozawa Nankoku (?).

Label

A young Japanese crane preens as he steps through a field of ripe rice. Against the autumnal colors of the plants, the crane is portrayed in dramatically large scale, seeming almost to emerge from the painting.

The artist Ozawa Nankoku studied painting with Okamoto Shuki (1807-1862), who specialized in flower-and-bird painting in Chinese-inspired styles. In this work, however, Nankoku takes an independent and modern approach to a traditional subject. Instead of following the conventional formulas of meticulous brush techniques and formulaic compositional arrangement that usually characterize flower-and-bird subjects, Nankoku has placed the bird in a stark, natural setting and delineated the features of the crane in a strikingly realistic style. Nankoku's painting rejects idealism to portray the image of a living crane. According to a note in the acquisition files of Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), Nankoku was still living when Freer purchased this painting in 1897.

Provenance

To 1897

Rufus E. Moore (1840 - 1918), New York to 1897 [1]

From 1897 to 1919

Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Rufus E. Moore in 1897 [2]

From 1920

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

Notes:

[1] See Original Kakemono Reserved List, pg. 1, 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

Birds and Beasts in Japanese Art (January 31 to July 18, 2004)

Japanese Art of the Meiji Era (September 20, 1997 to April 26, 1998)

Previous custodian or owner

Rufus E. Moore (1840-1918) (C.L. Freer source)

Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

Credit Line

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

late 19th century

Period

Meiji era

Accession Number

F1897.98

Restrictions & Rights

Usage conditions apply

Type

Painting

Medium

Ink and color on silk

Dimensions

H x W (image): 97 x 72.4 cm (38 3/16 x 28 1/2 in)

Origin

Japan

Related Online Resources

Google Arts & Culture

See more items in

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

Topic

crane

Meiji era (1868 - 1912)

Japan

Japanese Art

Charles Lang Freer collection

Record ID

fsg_F1897.98

Metadata Usage (text)

Not determined

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ye33ecc9adc-01a5-430d-b143-4718e750c993