The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 15, 2025

Wild Geese

late 1500s-early 1600s

Kano Sanraku

(Japanese, 1559–1635)
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
pair of six-fold screens; ink on paper
Image: 152 x 359 cm (59 13/16 x 141 5/16 in.); Overall: 170.2 x 371.8 cm (67 x 146 3/8 in.)
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund 1987.9.1
Location: Not on view

Description

Depictions of geese usually appear as ink paintings in Japan during the 1200s. They later show up in the colorful landscapes of illustrated handscrolls. Such early ink renditions of the birds have long been associated with classical Chinese Zen painting and poetry, which was avidly admired and collected in medieval Japan. In the screens on display, the artist portrayed the waterfowl in a pastoral setting without reference to classical or religious themes. Such ordinary subjects were imbued with special meaning in 14th- and 15th-century Japan through associations with continental culture, Zen thought and poetry, and famous Chinese monk-painters whose painting techniques had become revered as visual emblems of Zen principles. The screens here reflect the continuation of that painting tradition in the late 1500s or early 1600s by the head of the most important studio in Kyoto. Sanraku also executed a number of colorful folding screen compositions, but here pays homage to the style of early Zen painting.
  • ?-1987
    (Eastern Fine Arts, New York, NY, ?-1987. Sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1987-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, 1987-present
  • Cuningham, Michael R. Unfolding Beauty: Japanese Screens from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2001. Reproduced: cat. no. 37, p. 76
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art, Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 121); November 19, 2002 - March 10, 2003.
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 121); August 28 - September 27, 2001.
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 121); August 11- November 21, 2000.
  • {{cite web|title=Wild Geese|url=false|author=Kano Sanraku|year=late 1500s-early 1600s|access-date=15 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1987.9.1