The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 23, 2024

Birds and Flowers

Birds and Flowers

late 1500s

attributed to Kano Mitsunobu

(Japanese, 1565–1608)
Japan, Momoyama period (1573-1615)
One of a pair of six-panel folding screens; ink, color, and gold on paper
Image: 155.9 x 339.4 cm (61 3/8 x 133 5/8 in.); Overall: 168.5 x 352.2 cm (66 5/16 x 138 11/16 in.); Closed: 172.5 x 61 x 11.3 cm (67 15/16 x 24 x 4 7/16 in.); Panel: 168.5 x 58.7 cm (66 5/16 x 23 1/8 in.); with frame: 171.7 x 355.4 cm (67 5/8 x 139 15/16 in.)
Gift of William G. Mather 1948.128.2
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

As masters of the Kano academic painting style, both Kano Shōei and Kano Mitsunobu favored Chinese-inspired subject matter, such as birds and flowers.

Description

The landscape depicted in this pair of screens follows a seasonal progression from right to left, starting with the blossoming plum of early spring and ending with late autumn peonies. A variety of smaller birds are positioned throughout the scene, and a trio of swimming ducks is bracketed by early summer irises and early autumn bellflowers at the center. While some raptors (birds of prey) terrorize a pheasant and an egret (a waterfowl) to the right, a peacock and peahen converse to the left. Hawks are associated with military prowess, while the peafowl suggest cultural prestige.
  • ?–1948
    William G. Mather [1857–1951], Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1948–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Chiba-shi Bijutsukan. Shugyoku no Nihon bijutsu: Hosomi korekushon no zenbō to Bosuton, Kurīburando, Sakkurā no wadaisaku : kaikan isshūnen kinen. Chiba-shi: Chiba-shi Bijutsukan, 1996. Reproduced: cat. no. 81, p. 98
    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. Reproduced: p. 120-121, no. 80
    Cleveland Museum of Art. Tōyō kaiga no seika: Kurīvurando Bijutsukan no korekushon kara : tokubetsuten. 1998. Reproduced: pp. 120-122, cat. no. 80
    Cleveland Museum of Art, and Michael R. Cunningham. Unfolding Beauty: Japanese Screens from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2001. Reproduced: pp.18-19
    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: cat. no. 29, pp. 90-91
  • Animals in Japanese Art (Japanese art rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 24-December 10, 2023).
    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).
    Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 121). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (March 12-July 13, 2004).
    Unfolding Beauty: Japanese Screens from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 15-September 16, 2001).
    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).
    The Legacy of Japanese Art. Chiba City Museum of Art (organizer) (October 1-November 10, 1996).
    Autumn Grasses: Arts of the Momoyama Period (1573-1615). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 4-December 11, 1988).
  • {{cite web|title=Birds and Flowers|url=false|author=Kano Mitsunobu|year=late 1500s|access-date=23 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1948.128.2