Boy fishing from the limb of a tree
date: label: Date
content: 1839
label: Period
content: Edo period
name: label: Artist
content: Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾北斎 (1760-1849)
notes: label: Label
content: Hokusai’s work abounds with sympathetic portrayals of people of all ages engaged in mundane activities. In this painting, Hokusai captures a young fisherman in action. The boy clings to a tree with his legs and one hand while lowering his fishing rod toward the water. A basket hangs beside him. The artist’s mastery of the brush can be seen in his control of ink tonalities and his ability to render form with a few brushstrokes. A slight tremor in some of the brushstrokes appears in this and other paintings from Hokusai’s last decade.
label: Provenance
content: To 1902
label: Provenance
content: Bunkio Matsuki (1867-1940), Boston, to 1902 [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1902 to 1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Bunkio Matsuki in 1902 [2]
label: Provenance
content: From 1920
label: Provenance
content: Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]
label: Provenance
content: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [1] Undated folder sheet note. See Original Panel List, S.I. 42, pg. 4, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.
label: Provenance
content: [2] See note 1.
label: Provenance
content: [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.
label: Collection
content: Freer Gallery of Art Collection
label: Exhibition History
content: Bountiful Waters: Aquatic Life in Japanese Art (March 8 to September 14, 2014)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Bunkio Matsuki 松木文恭 (1867-1940) (C.L. Freer source)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
place: label: Origin
content: Japan
topic: label: Topic
content: Edo period (1615 - 1868)
label: Topic
content: fishing
label: Topic
content: child
label: Topic
content: willow tree
label: Topic
content: Japan
label: Topic
content: Japanese Art
label: Topic
content: Charles Lang Freer collection
setName: label: Related Online Resources
content: Google Arts & Culture
label: See more items in
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Charles Lang Freer
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: F1902.222
objectType: label: Type
content: Painting
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Ink and color on silk
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (image): 77.1 × 29.9 cm (30 3/8 × 11 3/4 in)