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Mar 31, 2009

Irises

燕子花図

1700s

Part of a set. See all set records

Watanabe Shikō 渡辺始興

(Japanese, 1683–1755)

Japan, Edo period

(1615-1868)

Pair of six-panel folding screens, ink and color on gilded paper

Overall: 154 x 334.3 cm (60 5/8 x 131 5/8 in.)

Gift of The Norweb Foundation 1954.603

Location

not on view

Description

The subject of this painting comes from a 10th-century text. It tells of a young nobleman’s journey into the lonely countryside, far from the capital city of Heian-kyō (Kyoto). There he came upon a small stream, the banks of which were covered with blooming irises, on which the artist has chosen to focus our attention. While viewing the beautiful flowers the nobleman composed a poem:

I have a beloved wife,
Familiar as the skirt of a well-worn robe,
And so this distant journeying
Fills my heart with grief.

Provenance

Matsukata Shōsaku (1863-1945)

?-1954

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

1954-

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

Edgell, George Harold. Illustrated Catalogue of a Special Loan Exhibition of Art Treasures from Japan. [Tokyo, Japan]: [Sanseido Press], 1936. Reproduced: cat. no. 91 A, B

The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 924 archive.org

Lee, Sherman E. Japanese Decorative Style. [Cleveland]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1961. Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 86–87; cat. no. 85 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. 283 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. 283 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 382 archive.org

Chiba-shi Bijutsukan 千葉市美術館. Shugyoku no Nihon bijutsu: Hosomi korekushon no zenbō to Bosuton, Kurīburando, Sakkurā no wadaisaku : kaikan isshūnen kinen [珠玉の日本美術 : 細見コレクションの全貌と, ボストン, クリ-ブランド, サックラ-の話題作 : 開館一周年記念]. Chiba-shi: Chiba-shi Bijutsukan, 1996. Reproduced: p. 184, cat. no. 153

Cunningham, Michael R. Unfolding Beauty: Japanese Screens from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2001. Reproduced: pp. 40–41

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. Reproduced: p. 122-123, cat. no. 41

Vilbar, Sinéad. “Triumphant Returns: Treasured paintings on loan to Japanese museums and archaeological collections go back on display in Cleveland.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine vol. 59, no. 1 (January/February 2019): 12-13. Reproduced: P. 12; Mentioned: P. 12, 13.

Exhibition history

Special Loan Exhibition of Art treasures from Japan. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA (September-October 1936).

Japanese Decorative Style. The Cleveland Museum of Art (August 30-October 15, 1961); The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (November 9-December 17, 1961).

A World of Flowers. Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA (organizer) (May 2-June 9, 1963).

Juxtapositions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (September 11-October 10, 1965).

Rimpa. Japan Society Gallery, New York, NY (organizer) (September 13-November 13, 1971).

Rin-pa. Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, Japan (organizer) (October 10-December 3, 1972).

Japanese Screens from the Museum and Cleveland Collections. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 23-May 8, 1977).

Byobu: The Art of the Japanese Screen. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (August 1-October 14, 1984).

Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 8, 1991).

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

The Legacy of Japanese Art. Chiba City Museum of Art (organizer) (October 1-November 10, 1996).

Unfolding Beauty: Japanese Screens from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 15-September 16, 2001).

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).

Japanese Gallery 235 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (January 7-July 8, 2019).

Cite this page

{{cite web|title=Irises|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1954.603|author=Watanabe Shikō|year=1700s|access-date=28 November 2023|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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Irises

Irises

燕子花図

Watanabe Shikō 渡辺 始興

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Watanabe Shikō 渡辺始興