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Additional Views

Apr 7, 2009

Apr 6, 2009

The Story of Fukutomi

福富草紙

mid-1400s

Japan, Muromachi period

(1392–1573)

Handscroll; ink and color on paper

Image: 35.3 x 1028.8 cm (13 7/8 x 405 1/16 in.); Overall: 37 x 1067 cm (14 9/16 x 420 1/16 in.)

John L. Severance Fund 1953.358

Location

not on view

Did you know?

This scroll is treasured as the second oldest surviving version of this story.

Description

This handscroll shows the second half of an odd tale in which a ne’er-do-well seeks the path to quick fortune and learns the art of musical flatulence. Prior to a major performance, a mentor (and competitor) advises him to consume morning glory seeds, a laxative. Thus, while performing he fouls himself and ends his days in humiliation.

The audacious nature of this story and its presentation—well-animated figures with dialogue adjacent to the appropriate moments of action—create a primitive graphic novel. Japanese visual humor about farting preceded this story, but the satirical, mean-spirited twist in this tale suggests its intent was not merely to be humorous. The story was likely commissioned by court officials who disapproved of common performers rising to high positions, outflanking what was the accepted social order.

Provenance

Myōshinji, Kaifuku'in, Kyoto, Japan

Reizei Tamechika [1823–1864]

Masuda Takashi [1848–1938]

?–1953

(Howard Hollis and Company, Cleveland, OH, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)

1953–

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 915 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 277 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 277 archive.org

Lee, Sherman E. “Horse Racing at Kamo Shrine.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 64, no. 8 (October 1977): 255–75. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 262-263, fig. 9 www.jstor.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 374 archive.org

Lee, Sherman E., Michael R. Cunningham, and Ursula Korneitchouk. One Thousand Years of Japanese Art (650-1650): From the Cleveland Museum of Art : Catalogue. [New York]: Japan Society, 1981. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 49, cat. no. 24

Lee, Sherman E, Ursula Korneitchouk, Michael R Cunningham, Ursula Korneitchouk, Cleveland Museum of Art, Japan House Gallery, Japan Society (New York, N.Y.), and Japan House Gallery. One Thousand Years of Japanese Art (650-1650): From the Cleveland Museum of Art: Catalogue. New York: Japan Society, 1981. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 49, no. 24

Tōyō kaiga no seika: tokubetsuten: Kurīvurando Bijutsukan no korekushon kara [東洋絵画の精華: 特别展: クリーヴラント美術館のコレクションから= Highlights of Asian painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art]. Nara, Japan: Nara National Museum, 1998. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 96–97, cat. no. 64

Grossman, Nancy, James T. Ulak, Marjorie Williams, and Laurence Channing. Art of Japan: Masterpieces from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2005. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 60

Ulak, James, T. "Uncomfortable Realities: Reflecting on Sherman Lee's Hunches." Orientations, vol. 36, no. 1 (Jan/Feb. 2005). Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 76–77

Ulak, James T. "The Alchemy of Selection: Lee and the Japanese Collection." Orientations vol. 40, no. 5 (2009). Reproduced: p. 46, fig. 7

Admired from afar: masterworks of Japanese painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art [クリーブランド美術館展: 名画でたどる日本の美Kurīburando Bijutsukan ten: meiga de tadoru Nihon no bi ]. Tokyo: Tōkyō Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan, 2014. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 11, pp. 46–51

Exhibition history

Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 120). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (March 4-July 22, 2003).

Japanese Picture Scrolls. Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, Japan (organizer) (October 9-November 24, 1974).

Reflections of Reality in Japanese Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 16-May 1, 1983).

Emaki. Kyoto National Museum, Kyoto, Japan (organizer) (March 21-April 30, 1987).

Asian Autumn: Masterpieces from the Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 17, 1991-January 5, 1992).

Highlights of Asian Paintings from The Cleveland Museum of Art. Nara National Museum (organizer) (February 21-March 29, 1998); Suntory Museum of Art (April 28-June 21, 1998).

Streams and Mountains Without End: Asian Art and the Legacy of Sherman E. Lee at the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 27-August 23, 2009).

Admired from Afar: Masterworks of Japanese Painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, Japan (January 15-February 23, 2014); Kyushu National Museum, Fukuoka, Japan (July 8-August 31, 2014).

Stories in Japanese Art (Japanese art rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 8, 2021-April 3, 2022).

Cite this page

{{cite web|title=The Story of Fukutomi|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1953.358|year=mid-1400s|access-date=31 March 2023|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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The Story of Fukutomi

The Story of Fukutomi

福富草紙

Japan, Muromachi period

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