Updated 03 March 2026
Currently not on display
Photo by (c) Norihiro Ueno
Currently not on display
Head of Hanako
| Date | c. 1907 |
|---|---|
| Materials and Techniques | bronze |
| Size（cm） | 17 x 13 x 14 |
| Inscriptions | Signed right side of neck: A. Rodin; Foundry mark back of neck: Alexis Rudier / Fondeur. Paris. |
| Credit Line | Matsukata Collection |
| Standard ref. | M1274 |
| Category | Sculptures |
| Collection Number | S.1959-0026 |
The model for this bronze was a Japanese woman named Hanako, a popular actress who performed all over Europe in those days. Her real name was Hisa Ohta (b.1868-d.1945). She went to Europe in 1901 and toured the continent until circa 1921. Ever since her encounter with Rodin circa 1906, she posed many a time as a model. There are currently over 50 portraits of Hanako in all kinds of material and technique in the Musee Rodin in Paris. In this work, Hanako is looking cross-eyed with knitted brows. This is a form in Japanese drama that expresses various emotions. Rodin was very interested in this look Hanako assumed in a "death" scene in a play and plunged into work referring to it as "the face of death". (Source: The Digital Gallery. 1999-2006)
Provenance
Bought from Musée Rodin by Kojiro Matsukata, Kobe through Léonce Bénédite, ca. July 1921, as ‘Anako (petite tête)’ (Fr. 3,000) [see several letters between Bénédite and Suzuki & Co., July 1921, in Archives of Musée Rodin, Paris; copy in NMWA curatorial files]; sequestered by French government, 1944; vested in French government under San Francisco Peace Treaty, 1952; transferred from French to Japanese government, 23 January 1959; entered into NMWA, April 1959.
Exhibition History
- 1960
- Masterpieces of the Ex-Matsukata Collection, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 14 May 1960 - 10 July 1960, cat. no. S-26
- 1966
- Rodin, National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 23 July 1966 - 11 September 1966, cat. no. 59
- 2001
- Rodin et le Japon, Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art, 28 April 2001 - 10 June 2001, Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, 22 June-19 August, cat. 42, col. repr.
- 2008
- Quiet Dynamism: Yuzo Fujikawa and the Art of Rodin, The Kagawa Museum, 5 April 2008 - 18 May 2008, cat. no. 8, col. repr.
- 2012
- Traces of hands : sculpture and drawings by Rodin and Bourdelle from the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 3 November 2012 - 27 January 2013, cat. no. 26
- 2015
- Japan's Love for Impressionism: From Monet to Renoir, Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn, 8 October 2015 - 21 February 2016, cat. no. 111, col. repr.
- 2021
- National Touring Exhibition of Western Art from the NMWA: When Here and Afar Meet: Western Art in Yamagata / Western Art in Takaoka, Yamagata Museum of Art, 17 July 2021 - 27 August 2021, Takaoka Art Museum, 10 September-24 October 2021, cat. no. Y3_9 | T3_15
Bibliography
- 1960
- Masterpieces of the Ex-Matsukata Collection (exh. cat.). [Tokyo], [The National Museum of Western Art], [1960], cat. no. S-26
- 1990
- The Old Matsukata Collection. Kobe City Museum, ed. Kobe, "Matsukata Korekushon Ten" Jikkoiinkai, 1990, cat. no. S-40.
- 2001
- Rodin et le Japon (exh.cat.). Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art; Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, eds. Contemporary Sculpture Center, 2001, pp. 50-51, 335, cat. no. 42, col. repr.
- 2008
- Quiet Dynamism: Yuzo Fujikawa and the Art of Rodin. The Kagawa Museum, ed. Takamatsu, The Kagawa Museum, 2008, cat. no. 8, col. repr.
- 2012
- Traces of Hands: Sculpture and Drawings by Rodin and Bourdelle from the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo (exh. cat.). Oya, Mina, ed. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 2012, p. 67, cat. no. 26, col. repr.
- 2015
- Japan's Love for Impressionism: From Monet to Renoir (exh. cat.). Marks-Hanssen, Beate, ed. Bonn, Bundeskunsthalle, 2015, pp. 182, 247, cat. no. 111, col. repr.
- 2019
- The Matsukata Collection: Complete Catalogue of the European Art. Kawaguchi, Masako; Jingaoka, Megumi, eds. vol. 2: Sculpture, Drawings, Prints and Decorative Arts and Other Works, Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2019, cat. no. 1274, col. repr.
- 2021
- When Here and Afar Meet: Western Art in Yamagata/Western Art in Takaoka (exh. cat.). Shinfuji, Atsushi, ed. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2021, pp. 151, 182, cat. no. Y3_9 | T3_15, col. repr.