The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 30, 2023

Righteousness, from The Five Virtues

五常の内　義

1767

Suzuki Harunobu 鈴木春信

(Japanese, 1724–1770)

Japan, Edo period

(1615-1868)

Color woodblock print

Overall: 36.6 x 21.6 cm (14 7/16 x 8 1/2 in.)

The Kelvin Smith Collection, given by Mrs. Kelvin Smith 1985.307

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

The artist's signature is on the door painted with a mandarin drake in a snowy scene.

Description

Two young male courtesans enjoy reading in their quarters by candlelight. One holds an illustrated book recognizable as the drawing manual Illustrated Book of the Treasure-Bag of Sketches (絵本写宝袋), published in 1720 by Tachibana Morikuni (1679–1748). The poem at the top translates as follows:

In all things to be humble,
discern the path of reason,
and abstain from falsehood.
This is what we call righteousness.

Inscriptions

Inscription

鈴木春信画

Inscription Translation

Artist's signature: Suzuki Harunobu ga

Inscription

Nanigoto mo/ Mi o herikudari/ Ri o wakachi/ Itsuwari naki o/ Gi towa iu beki

Inscription Translation

Be humble in all things,/ Follow reason and do not deceive;/ That is righteousness.

Inscription Remark

Poem in the cartouche in the upper right corner

Provenance
Louis V. Ledoux
by 1969–1975
Edith Ehrman [1932–1974], New York, NY, consigned to Sotheby's for sale after her death 1
1975
(Sotheby Parke Bernet, June 17, 1975, lot 29)
1975–?
(R. E. Lewis, Inc., California, sold to Mr. and Mrs. Kelvin Smith)
?–1985
The Kelvin Smith Collection, Cleveland, OH, given by Mrs. Kelvin [Eleanor Armstrong] Smith [1899–1998] given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
1985–
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Provenance Footnotes

1 Edith Ehrman was a founder of Japan House Gallery and a collector of Japanese prints.
Citations
Stern, Harold P. Master Prints of Japan: Ukiyo-E Hanga. New York: Abrams, 1969.
“Checklist of the Kelvin Smith Bequest.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 75, no. 7, 1988, pp. 292–295. Mentioned: p. 292 www.jstor.org
Exhibition history

Japanese Gallery 113 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (March 10–June 23, 1998).

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).

Japan's Floating World (Japanese art rotation) 235. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (April 8-October 9, 2022).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1985.307