The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 25, 2024

Puppies, Sparrows, and Chrysanthemums

Puppies, Sparrows, and Chrysanthemums

c. 1792–94
(Japanese, 1754–1799)
Overall: 211.4 x 94 cm (83 1/4 x 37 in.); Painted surface: 167.6 x 91.5 cm (66 x 36 in.)
Location: not on view

Description

These paintings were originally mounted as sliding doors (fusuma) used inside a building. The circular areas on the paintings’ paper surfaces are traces of the former positions of the door pulls (hikite). A flock of sparrows gathers on a trellis supporting flowering chrysanthemum. Below is a litter of puppies, some cavorting, others napping. The tender story created by the curious puppy peering up and tilting its head to listen to the bird’s insistent call in the leftmost part of the composition is characteristic of Nagasawa Rosetsu’s paintings, which often use animals to illustrate the human condition.
  • ?–1970
    (Setsu Gatodo Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1970–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1970.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 58, no. 2, 1971, pp. 22–71. Mentioned: no. 127, p. 69 www.jstor.org
  • Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 236). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (December 24, 2013-July 21, 2014).
    Year in Review: 1970. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 10-March 7, 1971).
  • {{cite web|title=Puppies, Sparrows, and Chrysanthemums|url=false|author=Nagasawa Rosetsu|year=c. 1792–94|access-date=25 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1970.71.4