Object Details
- Label
- This painting depicts the imagined heavenly realm in which the absence of desire produces freedom from sorrow. In the heavens dwell devas, celestial beings, who are surrounded by attendants and musicians. Like F1904.343, this painting was created to give tangible form to complex Buddhist ideas regarding illusion, attachment, and rebirth.
- Provenance
- Mr. Kawahara, Osaka [1]
- To 1904
- Yamanaka & Company, to 1904 [2]
- From 1904 to 1919
- Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Yamanaka & Company in 1904 [3]
- From 1920
- Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [4]
- Notes:
- [1] According to a note from the Original Kakemono List (see Curatorial Remark 3, in the object record).
- [2] Undated folder sheet note. See Original Kakemono List, L. 492, pg. 137, 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.
- [3] See note 2.
- [4] 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
- Real and Imagined Places in Japanese Art (March 4 to October 21, 2001)
- Japanese Art (April 11, 1978 to March 6, 1981)
- Japanese Art (January 1, 1963 to July 1, 1966)
- Centennial Exhibition, Galleries 1 and 2 (February 25, 1956 to January 1, 1963)
- Untitled Exhibition, Japanese Hanging Scrolls, Ceramics, and Sculpture (October 2, 1947 to January 23, 1951)
- Untitled Exhibition, Japanese Ceramics and Painting (May 2, 1946 to October 2, 1947)
- Japanese Paintings Buddhist Etc. (January 5, 1928 to December 8, 1941)
- Japanese Paintings and Sculpture (May 2, 1923 to January 5, 1928)
- Previous custodian or owner
- Mr. Kawahara
- Yamanaka and Co. 山中商会 (1917-1965) (C.L. Freer source)
- Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
- Data Source
- Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
- Date
- 14th century
- Period
- Kamakura period
- Credit Line
- Gift of Charles Lang Freer
- Medium
- Ink and color on silk
- Dimensions
- H x W (image): 146.1 x 55.7 cm (57 1/2 x 21 15/16 in)
- Type
- Painting
