The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of May 5, 2024
Emperor Yao Visiting Yu Chonghua
mid- to late 1600s
(Japanese, active c. 1620–1690)
Image: 131.9 x 348 cm (51 15/16 x 137 in.); Including mounting: 147.3 x 363.7 cm (58 x 143 3/16 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1968.105
Location: not on view
Did You Know?
The emperor's two-wheeled carriage sits in front of a thatched-roof farmhouse.Description
One of a pair, this screen shows a section of the narrative of how the Chinese Emperor Yao (about 2356–2255 BC) selected his successor, Yu Chonghua (about 2294– 2184 BC), who would become Emperor Shun. The artist who painted this screen, Kusumi Morikage, trained with Kano Tan’yō (1602–1647), painter-in-residence to Japan’s shogun, the country’s ruler, and was one of his four top students. Despite the conservative subject matter, Morikage’s distinctive sensibility shines through in his playful treatment of the gray and white elephants in the far left panel of the composition. According to legend, Chonghua was so virtuous that in the spring, elephants bounded down from the mountains to help him till the soil with their tusks.- ?-1968(Harry C. Nail, Jr. [1909-1990] sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)1968The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Cunningham, Michael R. Unfolding Beauty: Japanese Screens from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2001. Reproduced: pp. 77, cat. no. 41
- Japanese Gallery 235 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (January 2-July 9, 2018).Byobu: The Art of the Japanese Screen. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 8, 1987-January 10, 1988).Japanese Screens from the Museum and Cleveland Collections. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 23-May 8, 1977).Year in Review: 1968. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 29-March 9, 1969).
- {{cite web|title=Emperor Yao Visiting Yu Chonghua|url=false|author=Kusumi Morikage|year=mid- to late 1600s|access-date=05 May 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1968.105