Artwork Page for Operating on Guan Yu's Arm

Details / Information for Operating on Guan Yu's Arm

Operating on Guan Yu's Arm

関羽割臂図

1840s

Katsushika Ōi 葛飾応為

(Japanese, c. 1800-after 1857)
Culture
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
Medium
hanging scroll; ink, color, and gold on silk
Measurements
Mounted: 206.7 x 73.1 cm (81 3/8 x 28 3/4 in.); Painting: 140.2 x 68.3 cm (55 3/16 x 26 7/8 in.)
Credit Line
Kelvin Smith Fund 1998.178
Public Domain
You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.
Location
Not on view
Print
?

Did You Know?

This is the largest surviving painting by the artist.

Description

Ukiyo-e artists’ subject matter extended to popular literature. Katsushika Ōi used color to great effect in her gruesome version of an episode from a 14th-century Chinese novel, Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Ōi portrayed the passage in which legendary 3rd-century military leader Guan Yu undergoes a bone scraping to remove poisons received from an arrow wound. In this sensationalist portrayal, Guan Yu’s attendants cower at the sight of his bloody arm while he remains unflinchingly focused on his game. As a woman, Ōi was an outlier in her era, but her talent was allowed to shine due to collaboration with her father, Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849), the famed designer of the print known as The Great Wave.
A vertically long hanging scroll painting of light-skinned men assisting in an operation on a man's arm, one holding a dish into which red blood gushes and both he and another man behind him turning away. A bearded man operated on the arm, as the patient plays a board game with another man, while another overlooks the operation from behind. The men wear vibrantly patterned robes, with a table set behind them.

Operating on Guan Yu's Arm

1840s

Katsushika Ōi

(Japanese, c. 1800-after 1857)
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)

See Also

Visually Similar by AI

    Shop the CMA Store

    Shop More Art

    Contact Us

    The information about this object, including provenance, may not be currently accurate. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@clevelandart.org.

    To request more information about this object, study images, or bibliography, contact the Ingalls Library Reference Desk.

    All images and data available through Open Access can be downloaded for free. For images not available through Open Access, or any image with a color bar, request a digital file from Image Services.