The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 18, 2025

Horizontally long white paper inked with thick, black Japanese characters that streak at the edges (see "Description"). In the lower left corner sits a square, red stamp comprised of more characters, with a speck of splattered black ink showing through it. Some splatters extend to the edge of the paper on our left.

Working with Right Principles

2009

Takaki Seiu

(Japanese, born 1949)
Japan, Heisei period (1989–2019)
ink on paper
Sheet: 97 x 170 cm (38 3/16 x 66 15/16 in.); Image: 97 x 110 cm (38 3/16 x 43 5/16 in.); Framed: 110 x 181 cm (43 5/16 x 71 1/4 in.)
Gift of the Artist 2011.19
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Takaki Seiu was a student of Aoyama Sanu, whose calligraphy is also in the CMA collection. See 2011.16
and 2011.17.

Description

These three characters, read from right to left, are a quote from an annotation of The Book of Songs, the oldest Chinese classical poetry anthology. The phrase means to use reason and logic when advising others. The characters are brushed in an abstracted version of a calligraphic style called seal script, an ancient Chinese mode of writing.
  • 2009–2011
    Collection of the Artist, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    2011–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Cleveland Museum of Art, and Sŏn Sŭng-hye. The Lure of Painted Poetry: Japanese and Korean Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2011. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 97-98, no. 98
  • 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=Working with Right Principles|url=false|author=Takaki Seiu|year=2009|access-date=18 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2011.19