The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 24, 2025

Letter from Bokusai to Monk Kesso

1400s

Motsurin Jōtō

(Japanese, d. 1492)
Japan, Muromachi period (1392–1573)
hanging scroll; ink on paper
Image: 24.7 x 42 cm (9 3/4 x 16 9/16 in.); Overall: 110.8 x 60.7 cm (43 5/8 x 23 7/8 in.)
Gift of Alan Carter Covell and Kyu J. Pak-Covell in honor of Dr. Jon Carter Covell 1991.33
Location: Not on view

Description

The Zen monk-painter Bokusai resided at the influential Daitoku-ji temple in Kyoto. His portrayals of Zen patriarchs are among the most dynamic representations of their kind in the history of Japanese ink painting. There was a variety of surface damage that marred the letter: lifting, tears, discoloration, and poorly executed repairs done at the time the previous owners remounted the piece. This recent restoration corrects those trouble spots, strengthens the backing paper supports, and introduces a more appropriate combination of textile materials for such a distinguished artifact left by an eminent Zen monk-painter of the 1400s.
  • ?–1991
    Alan Carter Covell and Kyu J. Pak-Covell, California, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1991–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Turner, Evan H. “Selected 1991 Acquisitions.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 79, no. 2 (February 1992): 63–83. Mentioned: p. 83, no. 178 www.jstor.org
  • {{cite web|title=Letter from Bokusai to Monk Kesso|url=false|author=Motsurin Jōtō|year=1400s|access-date=24 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1991.33