Collection Online as of June 4, 2023

A Poem of Spring from Manyoshu

late 1900s

Takaki Seikaku 高木聖鶴

(Japanese, 1923–2017)

Japan, Shōwa period (1926-89) to Heisei period

(1989-2019)

Ink on decorative paper

Sheet: 36 x 50 cm (14 3/16 x 19 11/16 in.); Image: 13.5 x 15.5 cm (5 5/16 x 6 1/8 in.); Framed: 54 x 41 cm (21 1/4 x 16 1/8 in.)

Gift of the Artist 2011.21

Location

not on view

Description

Here, the calligrapher Takaki Seikaku copied poem number 4,514 from one of the oldest existing collections of Japanese poetry, Manyoshu (Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves). From top to bottom and from right to left, the poem about spring reads, "After the New Year, the spring comes. First in my villa a uguisu bird [Japanese bush warbler] sings."

Citations

Cleveland Museum of Art, and Sŏn Sŭng-hye. The Lure of Painted Poetry: Japanese and Korean Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2011. Mentioned: P. 95; reproduced: P. 91, no. 91

Exhibition history

Cleveland Museum of Art, (3/27-8/28/11); "The Lure of Painted Poetry" cat. no. 91

The Lure of Painted Poetry: Cross-cultural Text and Image in Korean and Japanese Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 15-August 21, 2011).