The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

A vertically long hanging scroll painting of a man with a medium-light skin tone, wearing traditional Japanese clothing and holding a closed fan in his right hand. His belt holds two swords and he looks slightly down in front of himself, to our left.

Portrait of Ōzora Buzaemon

1827

Watanabe Kazan

(Japanese, 1793–1841)
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
Image: 221.8 x 117.8 cm (87 5/16 x 46 3/8 in.); Overall: 256.8 x 131 cm (101 1/8 x 51 9/16 in.); with knobs: 256.8 x 140.5 cm (101 1/8 x 55 5/16 in.)
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund 1980.177
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Watanabe Kazan was interested in Rangaku (Dutch Learning).

Description

Over seven feet tall, Ōzora Buzaemon became a tabloid sensation when he arrived in Edo (Tokyo) in 1827 . His handprints were cherished souvenirs, and his image was sold on woodblock prints. As inscriptions on the scroll detail, Watanabe Kazan met Buzaemon at the residence of a noted Confucian scholar. Using a camera obscura–type device—a tool that uses light to project an image onto a surface—he made this preliminary drawing for a painting. The portrayal depicts Buzaemon’s discomfort in being stared at.
  • ?–1980
    (Mayuyama and Company, Tokyo, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1980–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Neils, Jenifer. “The Twain Shall Meet.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 72, no. 6, 1985, pp. 326–359. Reproduced: p. 355, fig. 59 www.jstor.org
    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 and Reproduced: pp. 228–229
    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. Mentioned and Reproduced: p 139, cat. no. 92
    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. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 68–69, cat. no. 22.
    Morland, Carol. "Images of Sato Issai and the Early Portraiture of Watanabe Kazan." Orientations, 50, no.1 (Jan./Feb. 2019): 114-121. Mentioned: p. 118; Reproduced: p.119, fig. 8
    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 59, no. 1 (January/February 2019): 12-13. Reproduced: P. 13; Mentioned: P. 12 archive.org
  • Japanese Gallery 235 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (January 7-July 8, 2019).
    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).
    Streams and Mountains Without End: Asian Art and the Legacy of Sherman E. Lee at the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 27-August 23, 2009).
    Later Japanese Rotation (Gallery 113). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (March 18-July 13, 2004).
    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).
    The Twain Shall Meet. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 30, 1985-January 5, 1986).
    Portraiture: The Image of the Individual. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 22, 1983-January 22, 1984).
    Reflections of Reality in Japanese Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 16-May 1, 1983).
    Year in Review: 1980. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (June 24-July 19, 1981).
  • {{cite web|title=Portrait of Ōzora Buzaemon|url=false|author=Watanabe Kazan|year=1827|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1980.177