The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 24, 2024
Irises
1700s
(Japanese, 1683–1755)
Image: 152.8 x 361.2 cm (60 3/16 x 142 3/16 in.); Overall: 168.8 x 373.2 cm (66 7/16 x 146 15/16 in.); Closed: 170.8 x 64.5 x 12 cm (67 1/4 x 25 3/8 x 4 3/4 in.); Panel: 164.8 x 62.3 cm (64 7/8 x 24 1/2 in.); with frame: 168.8 x 377.2 cm (66 7/16 x 148 1/2 in.)
Gift of The Norweb Foundation 1954.603.2
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 BThe Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 924 archive.orgLee, Sherman E. Japanese Decorative Style. [Cleveland]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1961. Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 86–87; cat. no. 85 archive.orgThe Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 283 archive.orgThe Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 283 archive.orgThe Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 382 archive.orgChiba-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. 153Cunningham, Michael R. Unfolding Beauty: Japanese Screens from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2001. Reproduced: pp. 40–41Admired 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=24 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1954.603.2