The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 15, 2025

Flowers and Birds in a Spring Landscape

1500s

attributed to Kano Motonobu

(Japanese, c. 1476–1559)
Japan, Muromachi period (1392–1573)
One of a set of sliding door panels mounted as hanging scrolls; ink and color on paper
Painting only: 177.1 x 137.1 cm (69 3/4 x 54 in.); Including mounting: 259.1 x 151.1 cm (102 x 59 1/2 in.)
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund 1970.6.1
Location: Not on view

Description

These four paintings originally decorated sliding doors that partitioned the interiors of Japanese buildings. Painters from the Kano school, named after the artist Kano Motonobu (1476–1559), were major forces in the production of screens and architectural interiors in Kyoto. When he headed the workshop, his work was prized by the upper strata of society. Kano is credited with combining the subtlety of Chinese black ink painting, as seen in the rocks and hills, with the color and realism of Japanese painting, seen in the birds and flowers. Landscape scenes like this were prized by the elite of Kyoto, both for their contemplative aesthetic and their patrons’ refined taste.
  • ?–1970
    (Gatodo Gallery Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1970–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • "New Oriental art galleries at Cleveland." Apollo: A Journal of the Arts. August 1970, Vol. 92, pp. 148-151. Mentioned and Reproduced: fig. 7, p. 150
    Stern, Harold P. Birds, Beasts, Blossoms, and Bugs: The Nature of Japan. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1976. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 12, pp. 38-39
    Lee, Sherman E., Michael R. Cunningham, and Ursula Korneitchouk. One Thousand Years of Japanese Art (650-1650): From the Cleveland Museum of Art: Catalogue. New York: Japan Society, 1981. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 72, no. 38
  • Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 237). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (May 29-December 23, 2013).
  • {{cite web|title=Flowers and Birds in a Spring Landscape|url=false|author=Kano Motonobu|year=1500s|access-date=15 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1970.6.1