The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 29, 2025
Reeds and Geese
1314–17
inscription by
(Chinese, 1247–1317)
Painting: 80.4 x 32.2 cm (31 5/8 x 12 11/16 in.); Mounted: 158.5 x 42.2 cm (62 3/8 x 16 5/8 in.)
Location: not on view
Did You Know?
Tokyo National Museum owns a copy of this painting made by Kano Gyokusen (1796–1864) when he was 14 years old.Description
Reeds and geese has been a common pairing in Chinese literary and visual culture for many centuries. This painting presents the contribution of a Japanese amateur painter, almost certainly a Zen Buddhist monk, to Japan’s fledgling efforts to add the theme to its own cultural vocabulary in the early 1300s. As was customary at the time in Japan, the painter did not sign or seal his work; the inscription, a poem added to the painting by the eminent émigré monk Yishan Yining, along with his signature and seal, was of far greater cultural value. Today, the modestly sized painting has tremendous significance as one of the earliest surviving examples of Japanese ink paintings with reeds and geese.- ?–2015George Gund III [1937–2013], bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art2015–The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Vilbar, Sinéad. “Reeds and Geese: A brief tour of George Gund III's bequest of Japanese art. Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine vol. 57, no. 3 (May/June 2017): 8-9. Reproduced: p. 9; Mentioned: pp. 8–9.Vilbar, Sinéad. Reeds & Geese: Japanese Art from the Collection of George Gund III. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2017. Mentioned: pp. 1-36; Reproduced: cover, pp. 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 14–17,19–24, 34
- Reeds and Geese: Japanese Art from the Collection of George Gund III. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 21-September 3, 2017).
- {{cite web|title=Reeds and Geese|url=false|author=Yishan Yining [Issan Ichinei]|year=1314–17|access-date=29 April 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2015.464