Collection Online as of October 4, 2023

Portrait Study of Seigen

Japan, Kamakura period

(1185-1333)

Hanging scroll; ink and slight color on paper

Image: 25.5 x 40.9 cm (10 1/16 x 16 1/8 in.); Overall: 107.8 x 53.4 cm (42 7/16 x 21 in.); with knobs: 107.8 x 58.2 cm (42 7/16 x 22 15/16 in.)

John L. Severance Fund 1982.55

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

The blotches on the monk's face may have been caused by smallpox.

Description

This is a portrait study of the monk Seigen (1162–1231). The inscription identifies him and notes that the study is after a portrait in the subtemple Jizō’in at Daigoji. The artist included scars from an illness, and made notations about the colors the clothing should be. Seigen was abbot of Daigoji, one of the most influential Esoteric Buddhist temples in Japanese history.

Provenance

?-1982

(Shunichi Yabumoto Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan,sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)

1982-

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Museum of Art--Exhibitions--Reflections of Reality in Japanese Art. 2013. INSTITUTIONAL CLIPPING FILE Referenced: n. 53

Cleveland Museum of Art. Tōyō kaiga no seika: Kurīvurando Bijutsukan no korekushon kara : tokubetsuten. 1998. Referenced: p. 93, n. 60

Admired from afar: masterworks of Japanese painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art [クリーブランド美術館展 : 名画でたどる日本の美 Kurīburando Bijutsukan ten: meiga de tadoru Nihon no bi ]. Tokyo: Tōkyō Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan, 2014. Referenced: p. 36, n. 12.

Exhibition history

The Year in Review for 1982. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 5-February 6, 1983).

Reflections of Reality in Japanese Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 16-May 1, 1983).

Portraiture: The Image of the Individual. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 22, 1983-January 22, 1984).

Suibokuga: Japanese Ink Painting. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 1, 1985-February 24, 1986).

Highlights of Asian Paintings from The Cleveland Museum of Art. Nara National Museum (organizer) (February 21-March 29, 1998); Suntory Museum of Art (April 28-June 21, 1998).

Admired from Afar: Masterworks of Japanese Painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, Japan (January 15-February 23, 2014); Kyushu National Museum, Fukuoka, Japan (July 8-August 31, 2014).

Japanese Gallery 235 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (January 7-July 8, 2019).