The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Horse Race at the Kamo Shrine

early to mid-1600s

Japan, Edo period

(1615–1868)
One of a pair of six-panel folding screens; ink and color on gilded paper
Image: 161 x 362 cm (63 3/8 x 142 1/2 in.); Overall: 176.5 x 377.3 cm (69 1/2 x 148 9/16 in.); Closed: 176.5 x 64 x 12.5 cm (69 1/2 x 25 3/16 x 4 15/16 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1976.95.1
Location: Not on view

Description

Kamo Shrine in Kyoto, seen in the upper half of the left screen, has held an annual horse race on May 5th since the ninth century. Serving as a snapshot of the festivities, this pair of screens captures nearly 600 people watching the race, beginning at the bottom part of the right screen and continuing to the left. The race is a great spectacle where aristocratic riders cling to their fast and unwieldy mounts. While many of those in attendance seem in rapt attention to the main event, other vignettes depict people engaged in an array of activities. This pair of screens was likely originally part of a group of linked murals.
  • ?–1976
    (Kochukyo Co., Inc., Tokyo, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1976–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Lee, Sherman E. “Horse Racing at Kamo Shrine.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 64, no. 8 (October 1977): 253–275. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 253–275, figs. 1, 3, 11-17, 19-20 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. 386 archive.org
    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. 80–81, no. 46
    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: p. 212; Reproduced: pp. 214–215
    Tōyō kaiga no seika: tokubetsuten: Kurīvurando Bijutsukan no korekushon kara [東洋絵画の精華: 特别展: クリーヴラント美術館のコレクションから= Highlights of Asian painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art]. Nara, Japan: Nara National Museum, 1998. Reproduced: pp. 132–133, cat. no. 87
    Cunningham, Michael R. Unfolding Beauty: Japanese Screens from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2001. Reproduced: pp. 28–29
    Sakakibara, Satoru. Biombo: Japan heritage as legend of gold. [Japan?]: Nikkei, 2007. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 242–243, fig. 98
    Filler, Martin. "The Global Eye of Sherman Lee": The Magazine Antiques, (October 2008), pp. 122–129. Reproduced: fig. 3, p. 123
    Donley, Gregory M. "North Galleries Preview." Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 53, no. 3 (May/June 2013): 11. Reproduced: p. 11 archive.org
    Vilbar, Sinéad, and Kevin Gray Carr. Shinto: Discovery of the Divine in Japanese Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2019. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 40–45, no. 4
    Vilbar, Sinéad. “Triumphant Returns: Treasured paintings on loan to Japanese museums and archaeological collections go back on display in Cleveland.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine vol. 59, no. 1 (January/February 2019): 3, 12–13. Reproduced: p. 3 archive.org
    "Shinto: Discovery of the Divine in Japanese Art." Asian Art: the Newspaper for Collectors, Dealers, Museums and Galleries 22, i. 5 (May 2019): 8–9. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 8
  • Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 236). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (April 19-December 24, 2013).
    Biombo: Japan's Gift of Folding Screens to the West. Suntory Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan (September 1-October 21, 2007); Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan (October 30-December 16, 2007).
    Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 121).The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (March 10-July 16, 2003).
    Unfolding Beauty: Japanese Screens from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 15-September 16, 2001).
    Highlights of Asian Paintings from The Cleveland Museum of Art. Nara National Museum (organizer) (February 21-March 29, 1998); Suntory Museum of Art (April 28-June 21, 1998).
    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).
  • {{cite web|title=Horse Race at the Kamo Shrine|url=false|author=|year=early to mid-1600s|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1976.95.1