The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Vertically long hanging scroll depicting two young women with white skin, red lips, and black hair fastened with combs sitting under a willow tree. Against a beige background, one crouches down by the river running across the lower left corner, a white cloth hanging from her hands. The other sits on a red cloth draped bench with her chin balanced on her fan. Both women wear floral patterned beige robes lined in red.

Beneath the Willow

after 1778

Tsukioka Sessai

(Japanese, d. 1839)
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
Overall: 94 x 33.2 cm (37 x 13 1/16 in.)
The Kelvin Smith Collection, given by Mrs. Kelvin Smith 1985.273
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

The willow tree may refer to the contemporary Edo fashion for elongated "willowy" beauties.

Description

Two young women cool themselves by a river as a willow blows in the breeze. One crouches down to rinse a hand towel, while the other sits with her chin balanced on her fan. Beside her is a black lacquer tray with a floral design in gold, holding her tobacco kit.

Tsukioka Tessai was an Osaka-based ukiyo-e artist who was especially respected for his representations of beautiful women (bijin). The court bestowed upon him the rank Bridge of the Law (hokyo) in 1778, and he was eventually elevated in rank to Eye of the Law (hogen).
  • This painting had originally been mounted as a hanging scroll but at some point in its history the roller rod, upper stave, and hanging hardware had been removed and the piece was stretched on a strainer like a Western painting. The silks and papers used in the hanging scroll mounting had become brittle with age and the acidic wood used for the strainer had caused a strong line of discoloration around the edges of the piece. At some point in the past, it had also been damaged by water which had created a strong tide line through the bottom mounting silk.

    As the piece could not be displayed in this condition, it was decided in 2013 that the painting would be treated and returned to a hanging scroll format in the process. All the mounting silks, except the small inner silk border (ichimonji), were too brittle and discolored to be reused and so new border silks were chosen by the conservator of Asian paintings in collaboration with the curator of Japanese art. The ichimonji silk was cleaned and reused in the new mounting.
  • (Nathan Chaikin, Switzerland, sold to Mr. and Mrs. Kelvin Smith)
    ?–1985
    The Kelvin Smith Collection, Cleveland, OH, given by Mrs. Kelvin [Eleanor Armstrong] Smith [1899–1998] to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1985–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • “Checklist of the Kelvin Smith Bequest.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 75, no. 7 (September 1988): 292–295. Mentioned: p. 294 www.jstor.org
  • Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 236); January 13, 2015 -
    Later Japanese Art Gallery Rotation (Gallery 113); August 26 - December 2, 2003.
    Later Japanese Art Gallery Rotation (Gallery 113); February 20 - May 6, 2003.
    A Private World: Japanese and Chinese Art from the Kelvin Smith Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 14-November 13, 1988).
    Ukiyo-e: Floating World. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (June 11-September 2, 1973).
  • {{cite web|title=Beneath the Willow|url=false|author=Tsukioka Sessai|year=after 1778|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1985.273