The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 24, 2024

Monk Mending Clothes in the Morning Sun (Chōyō Hotetsuzu)

Monk Mending Clothes in the Morning Sun (Chōyō Hotetsuzu)

c. 1350
(1336–92)
hanging scroll, ink on paper
Image: 84.3 x 35.2 cm (33 3/16 x 13 7/8 in.); Overall: 168.5 x 47.7 cm (66 5/16 x 18 3/4 in.); with knobs: 168.5 x 52 cm (66 5/16 x 20 1/2 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1962.163
Location: not on view

Description

This painting illustrates the Zen ideal of cultivating one’s spirit through all moments of life, from the mundane to the marvelous. The monk pictured is simply mending his robes, but it is a meditative activity. A “mending clothes” image would typically form a pair with another on the theme of “reading by moonlight.” While the seals on the painting were added at a later date, similar seals appear on other ink figures and bird-and-flower compositions.
  • ?–1962
    (Inosuke Setsu [1897–1969], Tokyo, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1962–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Mochizuki, Shinjō 望月信成. Suibokuga-ten [水墨画展 = Suiboku Painting of China and Japan]. [Osaka]: Osaka Municipal Art Museum, 1958. Reproduced: cover; Mentioned: cat. no. 40
    Lee, Sherman E. Tea Taste in Japanese Art. New York, NY: The Asia House Gallery, dist. by H. Abrams, 1963. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 40, p. 102
    Cleveland Museum of Art, “New Accessions Put on Display at Art Museum,” July 9, 1963, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 278 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 277 archive.org
    Shimizu, Yoshiaki, and Carolyn Wheelwright. Japanese Ink Paintings from American Collections: The Muromachi Period: an Exhibition in Honor of Shūjirō Shimada. Princeton, NJ: Art Museum, Princeton University: Distributed by Princeton University Press, 1976. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 1, pp. 42–47
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 375 archive.org
    Lee, Sherman E, Ursula Korneitchouk, Michael R Cunningham, Ursula Korneitchouk, Cleveland Museum of Art, Japan House Gallery, Japan Society (New York, N.Y.), and Japan House Gallery. One Thousand Years of Japanese Art (650-1650): From the Cleveland Museum of Art: Catalogue. New York: Japan Society, 1981. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 48, no. 23
    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]. Japan: Nara National Museum, 1998. Reproduced: p. 98, cat. no. 65
    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. 13, p. 54
  • Japanese art rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (August 19, 2019-January 5, 2020).
    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).
    Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 121). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 13-November 11, 2004).
    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).
    Asian Autumn: Masterpieces from the Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 17, 1991-January 5, 1992).
    Suibokuga: Japanese Ink Painting. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 1, 1985-February 24, 1986).
    Visions of Landscape: East and West. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 17-March 21, 1982).
    茶の美術 : 特別展 (Art of the Tea Ceremony). Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, Japan (organizer) (October 7-November 24, 1980).
    Japanese Ink Paintings from American Collections: The Muromachi period: An exhibition in honor of Shūjirō Shimada. The Art Museum, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ (April 25–June 13, 1976).
    Tea Taste in Japanese Art. The Asia Society Museum, New York, NY (organizer) (February 20-April 21, 1963).
    Tea taste in Japanese art. Asia House Gallery, New York, NY (1963).
    Year in Review - 1962. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 24-November 25, 1962).
    Suibokuga-ten [水墨画展 = Suiboku Painting of China and Japan]. Osaka Municipal Art Museum, Osaka, Japan (May 3–25, 1958).
  • {{cite web|title=Monk Mending Clothes in the Morning Sun (Chōyō Hotetsuzu)|url=false|author=|year=c. 1350|access-date=24 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1962.163