Crow and Heron

Artists

Description

Executed in plain black ink on paper, this painting in vertical hanging scroll format depicts a white heron and black crow perched atop the broken trunk of a tree. The heron faces the viewer and stands hunched forward with its left leg raised. His body mostly obscured by the heron, the crow stands in profile behind his companion, facing the viewer’s right, his heavy lid and furrowed brow lending it an air of slight menace. The tree trunk was painted perfunctorily with a dry brush; only sparse bits of leaves and short branches appear on the trunk’s lower portion. A signature and red intaglio seal appear at the right edge of the composition.

Dimensions

painting proper: H. 97.8 x W. 30 cm (38 1/2 x 11 13/16 in.) mounting, inlcuding suspension core and roller ends: H. 181 x W. 36.3 cm (71 1/4 x 14 5/16 in.)

Provenance

Harold G. Henderson, New York (by 1946), gift; to Louis V Ledoux, New York, (1946- 1948), by descent; to his son L. Pierre Ledoux, New York (1948-2001), by inheritance; to his widow Joan F. Ledoux, New York, (2001-2013), gift; to Harvard Art Museums, 2013. Footnotes: 1. Louis V. Ledoux (1880-1948) 2. L. Pierre Ledoux (1912-2001) 3. On long term loan to Harvard Art Museums from 1981 to 2013. 4. A hand-written note dated March 26, 1946 and found inside the scroll box suggests this painting was a gift from Harold G. Henderson. He claims the work to be by Hanabusa Itcho and may have acquired it in Tokyo.