The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 24, 2025

A horizontally long handscroll filled with Japanese calligraphy on top of paintings of tall grass with lions leaping about.

Selections from the New Collection of Japanese Poems from Ancient and Modern Times (Shinkokin wakashū) with Printed Designs of Chinese Lions and Crab Finger Grass

early 1600s
calligraphy by

Hon'ami Kōetsu

(Japanese, 1558–1637)
(Japanese, c. 1570-c. 1640)
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
handscroll; ink, gold, and silver on paper
Overall: 23.2 x 346.6 cm (9 1/8 x 136 7/16 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1966.118
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Before becoming a master painter of screens, Tawaraya Sōtatsu painted fans.

Description

Hon’ami Kōetsu was a calligrapher and craftsman who frequently collaborated with the painter Tawaraya Sōtatsu, considered the first master of the Rinpa school. Kōetsu brushed seven poems from the autumn section of a poetry anthology onto dyed paper with motifs designed and printed in gold and silver by Sōtatsu.
  • ?-1966
    (Harry C. Nail, Jr. [1909-1990], El Dorado, Arkansas, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1966-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 283 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. 283 archive.org
    Masterpieces of Japanese Art; [Catalogue of the Exhibition] October 4 Through November 30, 1969, Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. Dallas, TX: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, 1969. Reproduced: pl. 53
    Fischer, Felice and Edwin A. Cranston. The Arts of Honʼami Kōetsu: Japanese Renaissance Master. Philadelphia, PA: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2000. Reproduced: cat. no. 8, p. 40
    Sŏn, Sŭng-hye. The Lure of Painted Poetry: Japanese and Korean Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2011. Reproduced: cat. no. 86
    Lippit, Yukio, James T. Ulak, Keiko Nakamachi, Shunroku Okudaira, Ryō Furuta, Takeshi Noguchi, and Aya Ōta. Sōtatsu. Washington, DC : Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, 2015. Reproduced: cat. no. 20, pp. 212-215
  • Early Rinpa (Japanese gallery rotation) 235. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (July 23, 2020-January 17, 2021).
    Sotatsu: Making Waves. National Museum of Asian Art, Washington, DC (organizer) (October 24, 2015-January 31, 2016).
    The Lure of Painted Poetry: Japanese and Korean Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 15-August 21, 2011).
    Asian Journeys: Collecting Art in Post-war America. The Asia Society Museum, New York, NY (organizer) (February 10-August 9, 2009).
    Rimpa. The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan (organizer) (August 21-October 3, 2004).
    The Arts of Hon'ami Koetsu: Japanese Renaissance Master. Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA (organizer) (July 29-October 29, 2000).
    Japanese Calligraphy. Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, Japan (organizer) (October 10-November 26, 1978).
    Rimpa. Japan Society Gallery, New York, NY (organizer) (September 13-November 13, 1971).
    Masterpieces of Japanese Art. Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas, Texas (October 4-November 30, 1969).
  • {{cite web|title=Selections from the New Collection of Japanese Poems from Ancient and Modern Times (Shinkokin wakashū) with Printed Designs of Chinese Lions and Crab Finger Grass|url=false|author=Hon'ami Kōetsu, Tawaraya Sōtatsu|year=early 1600s|access-date=24 April 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1966.118