The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 24, 2025

Pair of six-panel folding screens depicting people with light skin tones in rocky landscapes with gnarled trees. On one screen, the scene gathers on the right with people seated on the ground playing a board game and others carrying bowls from a table stacked with books and an instrument in a case. A child in the center looks into a crack in the ground. The other screen's scene is clustered to the left, a person seated at a table painting while others gather around. In each scene, a child wears orange robes and the rest muted yellow or white.

The Four Accomplishments

late 1500s–early 1600s

attributed to Kano Shōei

(Japanese, 1519–1592)
Japan, Momoyama period (1573–1615)
pair of six-panel folding screens; ink and slight color on paper
Painting: 153 x 358.6 cm (60 1/4 x 141 3/16 in.); Mounted: 174 x 378.5 cm (68 1/2 x 149 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1979.46
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Another candidate for authorship of these screens is Kano Yukinobu (c. 1513–1575).

Description

This pair of screens shows a group of elite Chinese gentlemen and their servants in the countryside. One man is considering his painting in progress, while another looks on as two of his companions play a board game called qi, known in Japan as Go. Nearby is a table set with a selection of books ready to be read and a qin, a type of stringed instrument, still wrapped in its cloth case waiting to be played. The mood is one of enjoyment balanced with formality. Historically, playing the qin and qi along with practicing or admiring calligraphy and painting were considered four skills essential for cultured men in China.
  • ?–1979
    (Kochukyo Co., Inc., Tokyo, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1979–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • “Leave a Legacy.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 62, no. 1: 38. Reproduced: P. 38.
    Lee, Sherman E. "The Year in Review for 1979." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 67, no. 3 (1980): 58-99. Reproduced: cat. no. 119, p. 90-91; Mentioned p. 62, 99 www.jstor.org
    Lee, Sherman E, Ursula Korneitchouk, Michael R Cunningham, Ursula Korneitchouk, Cleveland Museum of Art, Japan House Gallery, Japan Society (New York, N.Y.), and Japan House Gallery. One Thousand Years of Japanese Art (650-1650): From the Cleveland Museum of Art: Catalogue. New York: Japan Society, 1981. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 73, no. 39
    Graham, Patricia J. "Lifestyles of Scholar-Painters in Edo Japan." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 77, no. 7 (1990): 262–283. Reproduced: p. 264; Mentioned: pp. 263–264, 282 www.jstor.org
    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]. Japan: Nara National Museum, 1998. Reproduced: pp. 110-111, cat. no. 74
    Cunningham, Michael R. Unfolding Beauty: Japanese Screens from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2001. Reproduced: pp. 16-17
    Rivero Lake, Rodrigo. Namban: Art in Viceregal Mexico. [Madrid]: Estiloméxico Editores, 2005. pp. 150, 152, 158–159
    Admired from afar: masterworks of Japanese painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art [クリーブランド美術館展 : 名画でたどる日本の美 Kurīburando Bijutsukan ten: meiga de tadoru Nihon no bi ]. Tokyo: Tōkyō Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan, 2014. Reproduced: cat. no. 33, p. 109, 111
  • Practice and Play in Japanese Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 20-November 30, 2025).
    Admired from Afar: Masterworks of Japanese Painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, Japan (January 15-February 23, 2014).
    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).
    Byobu: The Art of the Japanese Screen. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (August 1-October 14, 1984).
    Year in Review: 1979. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 13-March 9, 1980).
  • {{cite web|title=The Four Accomplishments|url=false|author=Kano Shōei|year=late 1500s–early 1600s|access-date=24 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1979.46