The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 15, 2025

Horizontally long white paper inked with thick, black Japanese characters with streaking or roughened edges (see "Description"). On the central left sits two square, red stamps comprised of more characters. The lower stamp shows white characters against a red background, and the upper red characters against a white background.

Storing Life

1979

Aoyama Sanu

(Japanese, 1912–1993)
Japan, Shōwa period (1926–89)
ink on paper
Image: 43 x 68.5 cm (16 15/16 x 26 15/16 in.); Framed: 57 x 83 cm (22 7/16 x 32 11/16 in.)
Gift of Aoyama Keiji 2011.16
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Fascicle 94 of the Commentary on the Great Perfection of Wisdom Sutra contains a phrase noting that dust piled up will become a mountain.

Description

Read from right to left, the two characters in this calligraphy translate to “storing up dust” (chojin). The word used for dust appears in Buddhist sacred texts, where it can refer to everyday life. Aoyama Sanu’s phrase means to contemplate the moments making up an ordinary existence. It prompts meditation on dust, and invites the viewer to consider the endlessly shifting nature of the materials that constitute our lives.
  • 1979–2024
    Aoyama family collection, Tokyo, Japan, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    2024–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Sŏn, Sŭng-hye. The Lure of Painted Poetry: Japanese and Korean Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2011. Mentioned: P. 97; reproduced: P. 95, no. 96
  • Contemporary Calligraphy and Clay. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7, 2024-June 15, 2025).
    The Lure of Painted Poetry: Japanese and Korean Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 15-August 21, 2011).
  • {{cite web|title=Storing Life|url=false|author=Aoyama Sanu|year=1979|access-date=15 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2011.16