The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of October 31, 2025

Vertically long hanging scroll depicting bamboo tree stalks branching out into fine, pointed leaves up to the lower edge of the moon hovering among a beige background. The moon is highlighted by showing the beige background circled with smudging grey. Some of the bamboo leaves appear black, layering over lighter grey ones. An organic, rough-edged rock in dark grey shades and an approximate "C" shape with holes nestles at the base of the bamboo.

Bamboo in Moonlight

1500s

Korea, Joseon dynasty

(1392–1910)
hanging scroll; ink on paper
Painting only: 85.2 x 33.5 cm (33 9/16 x 13 3/16 in.); Overall: 163 x 43.2 cm (64 3/16 x 17 in.)
Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund 1987.186
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

This painting is currently in the Korean art collection, but some stylistic features suggest that it may be Japanese.

Description

This painting depicts the full moon shining through a stand of bamboo, and for Joseon literati it would have conveyed the sense of life in harmony with nature to which they aspired. As one of the "four gentlemen" along with plum trees, orchids, and chrysanthemums, bamboo, which has immense flexibility, allowing it bent to extremes without breaking—symbolize a gentleman's noble virtue. Here, the painter depicted the shining moon rising above a bamboo tree to create a meditative nightly scene.
  • ?–1987
    (Kenzaburo Marui, Osaka, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1987–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Turner, Evan H. “The Year in Review for 1987.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 75, no. 2 (February 1988): 30–71. Reproduced: p. 53; Mentioned: p. 71, no. 195 www.jstor.org
    Treasures from Korea: Arts and Culture of the Joseon Dynasty, 1392-1910. Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2014.
  • Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 238). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (June 13, 2013-January 28, 2014).
    Asian Autumn: Masterpieces from the Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 17, 1991-January 5, 1992).
    Scholar's Studio. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 19-December 17, 1989).
    The Year in Review for 1987. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 24-April 17, 1988).
  • {{cite web|title=Bamboo in Moonlight|url=false|author=|year=1500s|access-date=31 October 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1987.186