The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 24, 2024

The Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup

The Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup

later 1700s
(Japanese, 1730–1781)
Painting only: 120 x 352.2 cm (47 1/4 x 138 11/16 in.); Including mounting: 137.5 x 369.6 cm (54 1/8 x 145 1/2 in.)
Location: not on view

Description

Responding to the desires of the middle class (chonin), some Japanese painters of the late Edo period moved away from the seriousness associated with the Chinese theme of reclusion, focusing instead on the motif’s humorous aspects. The theme Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup is based on a poem by the renowned 8th-century Chinese poet Du Fu about his eight colleagues. These scholars eagerly sought release from their official governmental duties and then supposedly fled the capital for the countryside. There, they engaged in wildly eccentric behavior and adventurous creative work, all fueled by copious amounts of wine. Shohaku’s version of events exaggerates the scholars’ pleasure, as seen in their comical facial expressions.
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 386 archive.org
    Cunningham, Michael R. Unfolding Beauty: Japanese Screens from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2001. Reproduced: pp. 50–51
    Soga Shōhaku: burai to iu yuetsu : tokubetsu tenrankai [曾我蕭白 : 無頼という愉悦: 特別展覧会 = Shōhaku show]. [Kyoto]: Kyōto Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan, 2005. Reproduced: p. 248, cat no. 74
    Sŏn, Sŭng-hye. The Lure of Painted Poetry: Japanese and Korean Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2011. Reproduced: cat. no. 27b
  • The Lure of Painted Poetry: Cross-cultural Text and Image in Korean and Japanese Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 15-August 21, 2011).
    Soga Shohaku (1730-81). Kyoto National Museum, Kyoto, Japan (organizer) (April 12-May 15, 2005).
  • {{cite web|title=The Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup|url=false|author=Soga Shōhaku|year=later 1700s|access-date=24 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1976.11.2