Landscapes of the four seasons
date: label: Date
content: 17th century
label: Period
content: Edo period
name: label: Artist
content: Tosa Mitsuoki (1617-1691)
notes: label: Description
content: Handscroll depicting landscapes of the four the seasons. Signature and seal. Silk makimono.
label: Signatures
content: Tosa Shō Mitsuoki hitsu
label: Signatures
content: 土佐将　光起筆
label: Signatures
content: 土佐将　光起筆
label: Marks
content: Artist's seal: Mitsuoki (read right to left) 光起
label: Label
content: Painters of the Tosa school, which had enjoyed the patronage of the imperial court, received renewed attention after Tosa Mitsuoki moved in 1634 from Sakai to Kyoto. In 1654, he became head of the Edokoro, the official Bureau of Painting. Into the conservative style and classical subject repertoire of seasonal landscapes and literary themes that were a specialty of Tosa painters, he introduced elements of brushwork and delineation from the Kano school, which had also assimilated significant influence from Chinese academic painting of the Ming dynasty (1368&#150;1644). Some elements of the simplified designs and innovative compositions characteristic of the emergent Rimpa school of Kyoto can also be seen in his work. In this handscroll depicting the four seasons the sequence begins with spring, reading from right to left. Mitsuoki's lyrical approach to natural subjects can be appreciated fully in these landscapes.
label: Provenance
content: To 1904
label: Provenance
content: Michael Tomkinson (1841-1921), Kidderminster, England, to 1904 [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1904 to 1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Michael Tomkinson in 1904 [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] See Original Makimono Reserved List, R. 444, pg. 1, 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: Japanese Art in the Age of Koetsu (June 6, 1998 to February 15, 1999)
label: Exhibition History
content: Birds and Flowers of the Four Seasons in Japanese Art (September 14, 1977 to April 8, 1978)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Michael Tomkinson (1841-1921) (C.L. Freer source)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
place: label: Origin
content: Japan
topic: label: Topic
content: landscape
label: Topic
content: seasons
label: Topic
content: Edo period (1615 - 1868)
label: Topic
content: Japan
label: Topic
content: makimono
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: F1904.391
objectType: label: Type
content: Painting
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Color on silk
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (overall): 656.5 x 28.3 cm (258 7/16 x 11 1/8 in)