Collection Online as of May 24, 2022

Waves

波図扇面

late 1700s-early 1800s

Nakamura Hōchū 中村芳中

(Japanese, d. 1819)

Japan, Edo period

(1615-1868)

Fan painting mounted as a hanging scroll; ink and color with gold on paper

Image: 39.8 x 53 cm (15 11/16 x 20 7/8 in.); Overall: 126.4 x 61.3 cm (49 3/4 x 24 1/8 in.)

John L. Severance Fund 1999.90

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

Nakamura Hōchū took inspiration for his work from the painter Ogata Kōrin.

Description

Nakamura Hōchū painted waves on this handheld fan to bring coolness to the mind of its bearer. While fragile paper fans are often used for a single season, this one was cherished for its design. Someone carefully removed it from its folding apparatus and converted it into a hanging scroll for occasional enjoyment in an alcove.

Nakamura Hōchū

active late 1700s--early 1800s

Provenance

?–1999

(London Gallery, Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)

1999–

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

Sims, Lowery Stokes. The persistence of geometry: form, content, and culture in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2006. Reproduced: no. 33, p. 117

Exhibition history

Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 121), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 13-November 10, 2004).

The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (MOCA), Cleveland, OH (June 9-August 20, 2006).

Rinpa (琳派) (Japanese gallery rotation) 235. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 23-October 3, 2021).

The Cleveland Museum of Art