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Hell Courtesan

地獄太夫図

1871–89

Kawanabe Kyōsai 河鍋暁斎

(Japanese, 1831–1889)

Japan, Meiji period

(1868-1912)

Hanging scroll; ink, color, gold, and silver on silk

Image: 144.2 x 67.6 cm (56 3/4 x 26 5/8 in.); Overall: 233.7 x 92.1 cm (92 x 36 1/4 in.)

The Kelvin Smith Collection, given by Mrs. Kelvin Smith 1985.268

Location

not on view

Did you know?

The word for longevity appears multiple times in gold and silver on her outer robe.

Description

Kawanabe Kyōsai repeated this large-scale composition with variations a number of times. In this version, a famous 15th-century courtesan known for wearing a robe with images of the Buddhist hells stands before a folding screen. Legend has it that she was abducted by bandits, and wore the garment to symbolize her belief that her suffering in her current life was punishment for sins committed in a former life. Here, in a parody depiction of the garment, the courtesan stands in for Benzaiten, the goddess of everything that flows, while the remaining members of the Seven Gods of Good Fortune appear on her outer robe. One of them reports sins to Enma, the King of Hell, who is writing out his judgments on the recently deceased.

Inscriptions

Inscription

artist's signature and two seals, lower right.

Provenance

(Nathan Chaikin, Switzerland, sold to Mr. and Mrs. Kelvin Smith)

?–1985

The Kelvin Smith Collection, Cleveland, OH, given by Mrs. Kelvin [Eleanor Armstrong] Smith [1899–1998] to the Cleveland Museum of Art

1985–

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

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: p. 146, cat. no. 99

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. 23, p. 73

Exhibition history

Visions of Japan: Prints and Paintings from Cleveland Collections. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (December 12, 2004-April 10, 2005).

Japanese Gallery 235 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (June 3, 2016–January 10, 2017).

The Year in Review for 1985. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 12-April 20, 1986).

A Private World: Japanese and Chinese Art from the Kelvin Smith Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 14-November 13, 1988).

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).

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).

Japan's Floating World (Japanese art rotation) 235. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (April 8-October 9, 2022).

Cite this page

{{cite web|title=Hell Courtesan|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1985.268|author=Kawanabe Kyōsai|year=1871–89|access-date=24 March 2023|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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Hell Courtesan

Hell Courtesan

地獄太夫図

Kawanabe Kyōsai 河鍋暁斎

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