The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of September 25, 2023

Youth as a Stand-in Monju

見立文殊菩薩

c. 1767

Suzuki Harunobu 鈴木春信

(Japanese, 1724–1770)

Japan, Edo period

(1615-1868)

Color woodblock print

Sheet: 29.2 x 21.7 cm (11 1/2 x 8 9/16 in.)

Bequest of Edward L. Whittemore 1930.177

Location

not on view

Description

In this image, a handsome young man replaces the Buddhist figure Monju, a bodhisattva—or enlightened being—often shown riding a lion. Monju symbolizes wisdom and customarily holds a sword and a sacred text atop a lotus flower. The youth here meditates instead on his tobacco kit and a long pipe. The print was once paired with another, showing a young woman replacing Fugen, a bodhisattva who rides an elephant.

Inscriptions

Inscription

Signature: Suzuki Harunobu ga

Provenance
(Yamanaka & Co., sold to Edward L. Whittemore)
?–1930
Edward L. Whittemore [1862–1930], Cleveland, OH, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art
1930–
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Hollis, Howard C. "The Edward Loder Whittemore Collection of Japanese Prints." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 17, no. 4 (1930): 64-66. www.jstor.org
Lee, Sherman E. A History of Far Eastern Art. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1964. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 487–488
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 389 archive.org
Ukiyoe shūka 浮世絵聚花. Tōkyō: Shōgakkan, 1978-1985. Reproduced: colorplate 125
Exhibition history

Japanese Prints from the Museum Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 5-October 28, 1934).

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

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1930.177