The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 25, 2024

Manjusuri and Sea Turtle

Manjusuri and Sea Turtle

1989
(Japanese, b. 1941)
Japan, Heisei period (1989–2019)
One of a diptych of color screenprints
Irregular: 97.5 x 65.5 cm (38 3/8 x 25 13/16 in.)
Gift of the Artist 1994.77.a
© Oda Mayumi
Location: not on view

Description

The Japanese term for substituting an unexpected figure for a conventional one is mitate (見立), or “stand-in.” Oda Mayumi applies the device, popular in ukiyo-e prints of the Edo period (1615–1868), to Monju (Manjushri in Sanskrit), a bodhisattva—a being among those considered enlightened in Buddhism—who symbolizes wisdom. One form of this bodhisattva depicts him as a child with his hair in knots. Oda’s Monju is instead a woman with her hair in a similar style, who also holds a nyoi (如意), a staff used by Buddhist clergy when delivering formal lectures.
  • 1989–94
    Mayumi Oda [b. 1941], Sausalito, CA, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1994–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Japan's Floating World (Japanese art rotation) 235. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (April 8-October 9, 2022).
    Visions of Japan: Prints and Paintings from Cleveland Collections. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (December 12, 2004-April 10, 2005).
    East Meets West: Tradition and Innovation in Modern Japanese Prints. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 19-May 28, 2000).
  • {{cite web|title=Manjusuri and Sea Turtle|url=false|author=Oda Mayumi|year=1989|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1994.77.a