The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of May 30, 2026

A folding fan made of paper and polished wood stands vertically in its closed position. Its long, slender handle tapers toward the base, secured by a small silver rivet. Above, tightly pleated paper expands into a narrow wedge. The outermost folds display a saturated red, while glimpses of off-white show through the interior. A central black wooden guard runs vertically down the center, pinning the paper and contrasting with the saturated red folds.

Ambiguous Beauty/Aimai-No-Bi

1995

Yasumasa Morimura

(Japanese, b. 1951)
Japan
Printed paper fan and wooden box
Overall: 29.2 x 49.5 cm (11 1/2 x 19 1/2 in.)
Gift in Memory of Toby Devan Lewis 2024.89
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Through makeup, props, elaborate costumes, and digital manipulation, the artist transforms himself into different subjects, often drawing from Western art and popular culture.

Description

One side of Yasumasa Morimura’s handheld folding fan features the male artist posing as Marilyn Monroe in a full-length nude centerfold photographed by Tom Kelley in 1953 for the inaugural issue of Playboy magazine. The reverse of the fan is printed with the Japanese character for “love.” While in Japanese society fans were used by both sexes, they are commonly thought of as a female accessory and in Western society, a prop evoking modesty. Morimura challenges definitions of identity and gender boundaries by depicting himself in the guise of famous female figures in artworks and historic images.
  • 1995
    Artist, to the Norton family
    1995
    The Norton family, gifted to Ms. Toby Lewis
    1995–2022
    Ms.Toby Lewis [1934–2022], Lyndhurst, OH, to the Estate of Toby Lewis
    2022–2024?
    Estate of Toby Lewis, to Adam Joseph Lewis, Ivy Beth Lewis, and Mark C. Lewis
    2022?–2024
    Adam Joseph Lewis, Ivy Beth Lewis, and Mark C. Lewis, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    2024
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • {{cite web|title=Ambiguous Beauty/Aimai-No-Bi|url=false|author=Yasumasa Morimura|year=1995|access-date=30 May 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2024.89