The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 23, 2025

Irises

1700s
(Japanese, 1683–1755)
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
One of a pair of six-panel folding screens, ink and color on gilded paper
Painting: 154.4 x 360.4 cm (60 13/16 x 141 7/8 in.); Mounted: 170.7 x 376.7 cm (67 3/16 x 148 5/16 in.)
Gift of The Norweb Foundation 1954.603.1
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.
  • ?-1954
    (Howard Hollis and Co., Cleveland, OH, ?-1954, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1954-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, 1954-present
  • 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
    Lee, Sherman. "Irises by Watanabe Shikō." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 42, no. 4 (April 1955): 63–67. Reproduced: pp. 64–65; Mentioned: p. 66–67 www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned: 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
    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
  • Japanese Gallery 235 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (January 7-July 8, 2019).
    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).
    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).
    Rimpa. The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan (organizer) (August 21-October 3, 2004).
    Unfolding Beauty: Japanese Screens from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 15-September 16, 2001).
    The Legacy of Japanese Art. Chiba City Museum of Art (organizer) (October 1-November 10, 1996).
    Rin-pa. Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, Japan (organizer) (October 10-December 3, 1972).
    Rimpa. Japan Society Gallery, New York, NY (organizer) (September 13-November 13, 1971).
    A World of Flowers. Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA (organizer) (May 2-June 9, 1963).
    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).
    Special Loan Exhibition of Art treasures from Japan. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA (September-October 1936).
  • {{cite web|title=Irises|url=false|author=Watanabe Shikō|year=1700s|access-date=23 April 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1954.603.1