Artwork Details
15-3/8 x 22-1/4 in. (image) 14-7/8 x 21-1/4 in. (sheet) 23 x 29 x 1-1/2 in. (framed/Optium)
PeriodSigned, lower right center: H. Nakagawa
Accession NumberJohn Herron Fund
CopyrightAsian Art (Japanese and Korean)
Color PalettePurchased by the John Herron Art Institute, now the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1904.
Every spring throughout Japan, people gather outdoors under blossoming cherry trees to picnic, sing, dance and party—often late into the night. The activity is called hanami (literally,"flower viewing"), where the flower (hana) is almost always the cherry blossom. News sources chart the daily advance of the height of blooming from the country’s warmer climates to its cooler ones so that eager revelers can plan their gatherings. But even more than the trees in full bloom, Japanese appreciate the subsequent snow-like falling of the petals, which drop while still pristine in their beauty.
Nakagawa first visited the United States in 1899 and came to Indianapolis in 1903. This is one of three of his paintings that are among the very first art purchases by the John Herron Art Institute, which later became the Indianapolis Museum of Art.
Exhibition Name
Venue
Dates
Meiji Modern: Fifty Years of New Japan
David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago
March 21, 2024 - June 9, 2024
12th Annual Exhibition of the Society of Western Artists
John Herron Art Institute and Museum
February 2, 1908 - February 23, 1908
Water Color Paintings of Hachiro Nakagawa
John Herron Art Institute and Museum
March 8, 1904 - March 23, 1904
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