The Tale of Genji, Chapter 34; Kashiwagi catches sight of the Third Princess
date: label: Date
content: 17th century
label: Period
content: Edo period
name: label: Artist
content: Tosa Mitsuoki (1617-1691)
notes: label: Label
content: Written in the early eleventh century by a lady of the imperial court, Murasaki Shikibu, The Tale of Genji presents an enthralling narrative of the life of Prince Genji. Already illustrated before the end of the Heian period (794-1185), the pictorial conventions for Genji illustrations were well established. All fifty-four chapters, separated by golden clouds, could be illustrated on a large Japanese screen, but sometimes one chapter was illustrated on one of a pair of screens.
label: Label
content: This screen shows a scene from chapter thirty-four, "New Herbs I," in which courtier Kashiwagi, Genji's rival at court, falls in love during a kickball game when he glimpses Prince Genji's new wife through a bamboo blind that has been pushed open by a pet cat. Pictorial conventions of Japanese narrative painting-the high perspective and the depiction of the room's framework as if the roof has been removed-are faithfully maintained in this painting.
label: Provenance
content: To 1904
label: Provenance
content: Yamanaka & Company, to 1904 [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1904 to 1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Yamanaka & Company 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] Undated folder sheet note. See Screens and Panels List, L. 90, pg. 25, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. The majority of Charles Lang Freer’s purchases from Yamanaka & Company were made at its New York branch. Yamanaka & Company maintained branch offices, at various times, in Boston, Chicago, London, Peking, Shanghai, Osaka, Nara, and Kyoto. During the summer, the company also maintained seasonal locations in Newport, Bar Harbor, and Atlantic City.
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: Painting the Classics: Japanese Screens (November 10, 2018 to October 14, 2019)
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese Screens (August 13, 1997 to May 4, 1998)
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese Screens (May 9, 1993 to November 13, 1995)
label: Exhibition History
content: Literary Themes in Japanese Art (February 13, 1986 to March 9, 1987)
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese Screens (February 11, 1983 to July 19, 1988)
label: Exhibition History
content: Centennial Exhibition, Gallery 5 (February 25, 1956 to March 15, 1957)
label: Exhibition History
content: Untitled Exhibition, Japanese Screens (October 3, 1947 to November 10, 1955)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Yamanaka and Co. 山中商会 (1917-1965) (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: The Tale of Genji
label: Topic
content: Japan
label: Topic
content: princess
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: F1904.118
objectType: label: Type
content: Painting
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Ink, color and gold on paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (overall): 171.7 x 376.8 cm (67 5/8 x 148 3/8 in)