Collection Online as of November 29, 2023

Romance of the Three Kingdoms

1800s

Matsumura Goshun 松村呉春

(Japanese, 1752–1811)

Japan, Edo period

(1615-1868)

Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk

Image: 28.2 x 25.2 cm (11 1/8 x 9 15/16 in.); Including mounting: 114.3 x 44.2 cm (45 x 17 3/8 in.)

John L. Severance Fund 1987.35

Location

not on view

Description

Matsumura Goshun was trained in literati art by Yosa Buson and Maruyama Okyo. Here, he depicted "Oath of the Peach Garden," a scene from the classic Chinese historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The three warriors Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei became sworn brothers in a ceremony amid peach blossom trees. Matsumura’s painting follows the example of Buson’s Evening Banquet at the Peach and Pear Blossom Garden, inspired by a 16th-century Li Bai poem.

Inscriptions

Inscription

Artist's signature and seal at upper right

Provenance

?–1987

(Katsuhiro Kobayashi, Tokyo, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)

1987–

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

Cunningham, Michael R. Unfolding Beauty: Japanese Screens from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2001. Mentioned: p. 86

Sŏn, Sŭng-hye. The Lure of Painted Poetry: Japanese and Korean Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2011. Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 52–53, no. 28

Exhibition history

Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 121). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (March 10-July 16, 2003).

Byobu: The Art of the Japanese Screen. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 8, 1987-January 10, 1988).

The Year in Review for 1987. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 24-April 17, 1988).

Asian Autumn: Splendid Variety: 18th-Century Art in Japan. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 16, 1993-March 6, 1994).

Unfolding Beauty: Japanese Screens from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 15-September 16, 2001).

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).