The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

A wooden sculpture of a man wearing a long, flowy robe sitting on a bench. The surface of the sculpture is slightly chipped, revealing the brown wood underneath. The man is bald and his hands rest together on his lap, his left hand over his right hand, with his palms facing up.

Portrait of Hottō Enmyō Kokushi

c. 1295–1315

Japan, Kamakura period

(1185–1333)
Hinoki cypress wood with lacquer, metal staples and fittings
Overall: 91.4 cm (36 in.)
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund 1970.67
Location: 235B Japanese

Did You Know?

Two famous sculptural portraits of this monk, one at the temple Ankokuji in Hiroshima, and another at the temple Kōkokuji in Wakayama, are dated to 1275 and 1286, respectively.

Description

Hottō Enmyō Kokushi, is a posthumous title bestowed upon the Zen Buddhist monk Shinchi Kakushin (1203–1298) by the emperor Go-Daigo. The title means “perfectly awakened national teacher of the Dharma lamp.” Considered a fine example of “Kamakura realism,” while downplaying detail in the body, the sculpture emphasizes fidelity in representing the visage of Kakushin.
  • Myōshinji, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan
    ?–1970
    (Mayuyama and Company, Tokyo, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1970–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Kurata, Osamu 蔵田蔵 Kumano [熊野]. Tokyo: Kodansha, 1968. Reproduced: p. 60, no. 64
    Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1970.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 58, no. 2 (February 1971): 22–71. Mentioned: no. 168, p. 72; Reproduced: no. 168, Back Cover www.jstor.org
    Lee, Sherman E. “Zen in Art: Art in Zen.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 59, no. 9 (November 1972): 239–259. Mentioned: pp. 239, 251, 259, note 16a; Reproduced: pp. 248, 249, figs. 9 and 9a www.jstor.org
    Lee, Sherman E. “Noh: Masks and Robe.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 62, no. 2 (February 1975): 26–35. Mentioned: p. 28, fig. 5; Reproduced: p. 29, fig. 5 www.jstor.org
    Jenkins, Donald, and Robin Scribnick. Masterworks in Wood: China and Japan: [Exhibition] Portland Art Museum, November 4 Through December 5, 1976, Asia House Gallery, January 13 Through March 20, 1977. Portland, OR: Portland Art Museum, 1976. Mentioned and Reproduced: no. 44, pp. 8, 9, 91
    Lee, Sherman E. “Varieties of Portraiture in Chinese and Japanese Art.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 64, no. 4 (April 1977): 118–136. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 128–129, fig. 12 www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 370 archive.org
    WVIZ-TV (Television station: Cleveland, Ohio), and Cleveland Museum of Art. The Priest of Myoshinji. [Cleveland, Ohio]: [WVIZ Television], 1978. ingallslibrary.on.worldcat.org
    Yamane, Yūzō 山根有三, Shūjirō Shimada 島田修二郎, and Terukazu Akiyama 秋山光和. Zaigai Nihon no shihō [在外日本の至宝 = Japanese Art: Selections from Western Collections, vol. 8 ]. Tōkyō: Mainichi Shinbunsha, 1979. Mentioned and Reproduced: no. 78, p. 147
    Zenzo Shimizu. "Japanese Sculptures in America and Canada," Ars Buddhica [佛教藝術], no. 126 (Sept. 1979), part I, pp. 67–88. Reproduced: p. 73, fig. 24
    Roukes, Nicholas. Masters of Wood Sculpture. New York: Watson-Guptill Publishers, 1980. Reproduced: p. 15
    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: pp. 42–43, no. 20
    Roberts, Laurance. "To See Japanese Art, Go to Tokyo, or Boston, or Baltimore, or Seattle." Art News, vol. 80, no. 7 (Sept. 1981). Reproduced: p. 112
    Interpretations: Sixty-Five Works from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991. no. 61
    Cunningham, Michael R., Stanislaw J. Czuma, Anne E. Wardwell, and J. Keith Wilson. Masterworks of Asian Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1998. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 190–191
    May, Sally Ruth, Jane Takac, and Barbara J. Bradley. Knockouts: A Pocket Guide. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2001. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 15
    Liebson, Milt. Direct Wood Sculpture: Techniques, Innovation, Creativity. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Pub, 2001. p. 15
    Ulak, James, T. "Uncomfortable Realites: Reflecting on Sherman Lee's Hunches," Orientations, vol. 36, no. 1 (Jan/Feb. 2005), pp. 78-79. Reproduced: p. 78
    Grossman, Nancy, James T. Ulak, Marjorie Williams, and Laurence Channing. Art of Japan: Masterpieces from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2005. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 38
    Ulak, James T. "The Alchemy of Selection: Lee and the Japanese Collection," Orientations vol. 40, no. 5 (2009), pp. 41–47. Reproduced: p. 41, fig. 1
    Franklin, David. The Cleveland Museum of Art - Director's choice. London: Scala Arts & Heritage Publishers Ltd, 2012. Reproduced: pp. 26–27
    "Reopening of the Asian Galleries at The Cleveland Museum of Art: An Interview with David Franklin." Orientations: The Magazine for Collectors and Connoisseurs of Asian Art, vol. 44, no. 8 (November/December 2013): pp. 60–63. Reproduced: p. 63
    "A Walking Tour." Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 54, no. 1 (January/February 2014): 8–33. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 28 archive.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art. Museum Masters: 2016-17 Companion Guide. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2016. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 30
    Dobbins, James C. Behold the Buddha: Religious Meanings of Japanese Buddhist Icons. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press, 2020. Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 199–200, fig. 85
  • Japanese Gallery 235 Rotation - July 2017-January 2018. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (July 15, 2017-January 2, 2018).
    Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 235). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (April 15, 2013-November 16, 2015).
    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).
    Asian Autumn: Masterpieces from the Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 17, 1991-January 5, 1992).
    Portraiture: The Image of the Individual. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 22, 1983-January 22, 1984).
    Reflections of Reality in Japanese Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 16-May 1, 1983).
    One Thousand Years of Japanese Art (650-1650) from The Cleveland Museum of Art. Japan House Gallery, New York, NY (March 19-May 17, 1981).
    Masterworks of Wood: China and Japan. Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR (organizer) (November 4-December 5, 1976); Asia House Galleries, New York City, NY (January 13-March 27, 1977).
    Traditions and Revisions: Themes from the History of Sculpture. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 24-November 16, 1975).
    Year in Review: 1970. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 10-March 7, 1971).
  • {{cite web|title=Portrait of Hottō Enmyō Kokushi|url=false|author=|year=c. 1295–1315|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1970.67