Arayori (A Peasant Woman)

Like many of their contemporaries, William and Henry Walters were intrigued by the precise and intricate workmanship found in East Asian decorative arts. Henry Walters expanded on his father's interest by collecting contemporary Japanese artists' works, which emerged as that country modernized at the beginning of the 20th century. He acquired this sculpture in 1915, when he traveled west to visit the Panama-Pacific Exposition, a World's Fair held in San Francisco. The Tokyo-based artist Yoshida Hōmei was awarded one of two gold medals for sculpture by the Japanese pavilion's organizing committee. The sculptor's work reveals an idealizing nostalgia for rural life following a period of rapid modernization and aggressive international engagement by his home country.

Provenance

Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.

The Panama-Pacific International Exhibition, San Francisco, 1915; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1915 [mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.