The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of May 30, 2026

A rectangular wood lid, featuring a prominent vertical grain, displays a single column of fluid black ink calligraphy down its center. The strokes vary in thickness, ranging from broad, sweeping marks to delicate, tapering points. Subtle knots in the light-brown timber provide a natural texture beneath the expressive brushwork. Standing vertically, the simple composition emphasizes the contrast between the organic wood surface and the dark, rhythmic characters.

Box Lid for Ambiguous Beauty/Aimai-No-Bi

1995

Yasumasa Morimura

(Japanese, b. 1951)
Japan
Wooden box lid
Gift in Memory of Toby Devan Lewis 2024.89.c
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 Template updated 9/20/23 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=Box Lid for 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.c