Object details
Accession number
v.1.a.3.7
Creators
Full title
The Floral Art of Japan
Creation Date
1899
Language
English
Publication Place
Tokyo
Binding Description
green cloth
Description
1 vol., xi [1] 142 p., illus., folio
Provenance
Gift from the actress, singer and poet Mrs. Fiske Warren (Gretchen Osgood, 1871-1961) to Isabella Stewart Gardner in 1900.
Marks
Inscribed in ink (frontispiece): Mrs. Gardner / with love / Gretchen Warren
Dimensions
36.2 x 27.62 x 2.54 cm (14 1/4 x 10 7/8 x 1 in.)
Display Media
Printed ink on paper; fourteen colored woodblock prints
Web Commentary
This book was the first to introduce the Japanese art of ikebana, flower arrangement, to an English-speaking audience and is richly illustrated with colored woodcuts of gardens and interiors by the Japanese artist Ogata Gekko. Gretchen Osgood Warren had this copy shipped from Japan to Boston, a journey that took a year. One plate showing the village of Somei recalls Isabella’s annual display of autumnal chrysanthemums in the museum’s courtyard—a tradition we continue today.
Permanent Gallery Location
Vatichino
Bibliography
Christina Nielsen (ed.). Sargent on Location: Gardner's First Artist-in-Residence. Exh. cat. (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 2018), p. 59 no. 14.
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