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Ukiyo-e and the Long Shadow of the Shunpōan Incident
Harvey Buchanan Lecture in Art History
Tags for: Ukiyo-e and the Long Shadow of the Shunpōan Incident
- Lecture
- Ticket Required
Friday, April 11, 2025, 5:00–6:00 p.m.
Prof. Julie Nelson Davis
Location: Lecture Hall
John C. and Sally S. Morley Family Foundation Lecture Hall
John C. and Sally S. Morley Family Foundation Lecture Hall
Free; Ticket Required
Shunpōan Kahōshū (Collected Treasured Flowers of Shunpōan), 1934. British Museum
About The Event
On April 26, 1934, a headline in the Asahi Shimbun newspaper announced the “greatest discovery of the world”: two Sharaku paintings held in the hitherto unknown Shunpōan collection. These rare works, along with 15 other ukiyo-e masterpieces, were slated for auction in May, it continued. At the auction preview, one expert was so impressed that he called for the paintings to be brought to the committee designating Important Cultural Properties. But the mood changed when others noticed familiar figures, settings, and compositions. Suddenly, the jig was up. These were not rare masterpieces. They were forgeries. In this talk, Professor Davis re-covers the tale of the Shunpōan Incident and considers the long shadow it continues to throw over the field.
This lecture is made possible by the Buchanan Fund.
Sponsors
All education programs at the Cleveland Museum of Art are underwritten by the CMA Fund for Education. Principal support is provided by Dieter and Susan M. Kaesgen. Major annual support is provided by Brenda and Marshall Brown, David and Robin Gunning, Eva and Rudolf Linnebach, Medical Mutual of Ohio, Gail C. and Elliott L. Schlang, Shurtape Technologies, and the Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation. Generous annual support is provided by Gini and Randy Barbato, the M. E. and F. J. Callahan Foundation, Dr. William A. Chilcote Jr. and Dr. Barbara S. Kaplan, Char and Chuck Fowler, the Giant Eagle Foundation, Robin Heiser, the late Marta and the late Donald M. Jack Jr., Bill and Joyce Litzler, the Logsdon Family Fund for Education, Sarah Nash, Courtney and Michael Novak, William J. and Katherine T. O’Neill, the Pickering Foundation, William Roj and Mary Lynn Durham, Betty T. and David M. Schneider, the Sally and Larry Sears Fund for Education Endowment, Roy Smith, Paula and Eugene Stevens, the Trilling Family Foundation, Jack and Jeanette Walton, and the Womens Council of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
