The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 20, 2024

Nagisa Palace from the Tales of Ise

Nagisa Palace from the Tales of Ise

late 1800s
(Japanese, 1807–1891)
Japan, Edo period (1615-1868)
Two-panel folding screen; ink, color, lacquer, and gold on silk
Image: 175.3 x 190.5 cm (69 x 75 in.); Each side: 162.8 x 88.6 cm (64 1/8 x 34 7/8 in.)
Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund 1981.2
Location: not on view

Description

This screen depicts an episode from the Tales of Ise, a 10th-century collection of poems and associated narratives in which the main character composes the following poem while drinking sake and viewing cherry blossoms: If, in this world of ours / All the cherry blossoms / Disappeared / The heart of spring / Might find peace.

Our hero relaxes on a shoulder rest, gazing at the flowers, his sake dish before him on a lacquered stand. A plump boy attendant monitors the sake dishes, a ewer at the ready. An associate sits with paper, ink, and brush, poised to record poems.
  • ?-1980
    Chester Dale Carter
    December 18, 1980
    (Sotheby's New York, NY, December 18, 1980 sale, lot 131, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1980-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Chinese Paintings, Japanese Paintings and Screens: Property of the Estate of Chester Dale Carter; Sale 4509Y; Public Auction, Thursday, December 18, 1980 at 2 P.M. New York: Sotheby Parke Bernet, 1980. Lot 131
    Cunningham, Michael R. Unfolding Beauty: Japanese Screens from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2001. Reproduced: pp. 72-73, cat. no. 33
    Grossman, Nancy, James T. Ulak, Marjorie Williams, and Laurence Channing. Art of Japan: Masterpieces from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2005. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 110
  • Rinpa (琳派) (Japanese gallery rotation) 235. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 23-October 3, 2021).
    Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 121). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (March 12-July 13, 2004).
    Unfolding Beauty: Japanese Screens from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 15-September 16, 2001).
    Byobu: The Art of the Japanese Screen. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (August 1-October 14, 1984).
    The Year in Review for 1981. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 17-March 21, 1982).
  • {{cite web|title=Nagisa Palace from the Tales of Ise|url=false|author=Shibata Zeshin|year=late 1800s|access-date=20 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1981.2