The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 13, 2025

The Four Accomplishments

late 1500s–early 1600s

attributed to Kano Shōei

(Japanese, 1519–1592)
Japan, Momoyama period (1573–1615)
One of a 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 1979.46.1
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

One of the servants is diverted by the motion of a fish in the water.

Description

This is one of a pair of screens that shows a group of elite Chinese gentlemen and their servants in the countryside. One man looks on as two of his companions play a board game. Nearby is a table set with a selection of books 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 or qi (a game similar to chess called go in Japan), and practicing or admiring calligraphy were considered three 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
  • 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. 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
    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.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); Kyushu National Museum, Fukuoka, Japan (July 8-August 31, 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=13 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1979.46.1