id: 149683 accession number: 1979.71 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1979.71 updated: 2019-06-05 09:17:42.488000 Arhat, 1235. Korea, Goryeo period (918-1392). Hanging scroll, ink and slight color on silk; image: 52.7 x 40.6 cm (20 3/4 x 16 in.); overall: 140 x 54.1 cm (55 1/8 x 21 5/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1979.71 title: Arhat title in original language: 세공양존자 (世供養尊者) series: series in original language: creation date: 1235 creation date earliest: 1235 creation date latest: 1235 current location: creditline: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund copyright: --- culture: Korea, Goryeo period (918-1392) technique: hanging scroll, ink and slight color on silk department: Korean Art collection: ASIAN - Hanging scroll type: Painting find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Image: 52.7 x 40.6 cm (20 3/4 x 16 in.); Overall: 140 x 54.1 cm (55 1/8 x 21 5/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Asian Autumn: Masterpieces from the Collection opening date: 1991-09-17T04:00:00 Asian Autumn: Masterpieces from the Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 17, 1991-January 5, 1992). title: Highlights of Asian Paintings from The Cleveland Museum of Art opening date: 1998-02-21T00:00:00 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). title: Goryeo Dynasty: Korea's Age of Enlightenment (918-1392) opening date: 2003-10-22T00:00:00 Goryeo Dynasty: Korea's Age of Enlightenment (918-1392). Asian Art Museum of San Francisco (organizer) (October 22, 2003-January 11, 2004). title: Honoring Sherman Lee opening date: 2009-06-28T00:00:00 Honoring Sherman Lee. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (June 28-August 30, 2009). title: Masterpieces of Goryeo Buddhist Paintings opening date: 2010-10-11T00:00:00 Masterpieces of Goryeo Buddhist Paintings. National Museum of Korea (organizer) (October 11-November 21, 2010). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * CMA, Department of Art History and Education (6/10 - 8/10/1980): "Korea: Bridge of Culture"
Nara National Museum (4/29 - 6/7/1981): "Buddhist Portraiture" (cat. no. 200)
CMA (10/23/1990-1/13/1991): "Asian Autumn: 1990"
CMA (9/17/1991-1/5/1992): "Asian Autumn: Masterpieces from the Collection"
Nara National Museum, Japan (2/21-3/29/98); Suntory Museum of Art, Tokyo (4/28-6/21/98) "Highlights of Asian Painting from The Cleveland Museum of Art" p.76, cat. no. 47
Asian Art Musuem of San Francisco (10/18/2003 - 2/5/2004): "Goryeo Dynasty: Korea's Age of Enlightenment (918-1392)" exh. cat. no.22, p.89.
The Cleveland Museum of Art (06/28/2009 - 08/30/2009); "Streams and Mountains Without End: Asian Art and the Legacy of Sherman E. Lee at the Cleveland Museum of Art"
National Museum of Korea (10/22/2010 - 11/21/2010): "Masterpieces of Goryeo Buddhist Paintings"
Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 237); May 29, 2013 - December 23, 2013 --- PROVENANCE The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, 1979-present date: 1979-present footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: An arhat (Nahan in Korean), an advanced disciple of the Buddha, is represented here in profile with a halo encircling his head. This particular arhat is Segongyang jonja, numbered as the 464th of 500 arhats. He sits on a woven bamboo stool, is luring a dragon into an alms bowl. This hanging scroll is one of only about ten known works that survive today, all of which (except for Cleveland’s piece) are currently preserved in Korea or Japan. wall description: Arhats are Buddhist disciples who attain not only enlightenment, but supernatural power. These semidivine beings are believed to have a special role to guard and to advocate the Buddhist law. Here we see an arhat, indicated by the halo around his head, luring a dragon into an alms bowl. While the dragon symbolizes the power of rulers in court-sponsored art, in the Buddhist context, this mythical creature is perceived as a ferocious being to be tamed. The arhat’s assertive, yet extremely calm facial expression indicates this enlightened being’s complete emotional detachment.

This was likely part of set of a 500 hanging scrolls, but now it is one of only about 10 known works that have survived. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Kikutake, Junʼichi, and U-t'aek Chŏng. Koryŏ sidae ŭi purhwa = The Buddhist Painting of Koryo Dynasty. Sŏul: Sigongsa, 1996. page number: Reproduced: vol. 1, p. 271, no.128, Mentioned: vol.2, p.101 url: Choi, Eung-Chon, and Kumja Paik Kim. Goryeo Dynasty: Korea's Age of Enlightenment, 918-1392. San Francisco, CA: Asian Art Museum, 2003. page number: Reproduced: p.89, no. 22 url: Kungnip Chungang Pangmulgwan (Korea). Koryŏ Pulhwa Taejŏn : 700 Nyŏn Man ŭi Haehu = Masterpieces of Goryeo Buddhist Painting : A Long Lost Look after 700 Years. Ch'opan ed. Sŏul: Kungnip Chungang Pangmulgwan, 2010. page number: Reproduced: p.192, no. 84, Mentioned: p.309 url: Kwang Hee, Shin. "A Sixteenth-Century Arhat Painting Commissioned by Queen Munjeong: Deoksewi, 153rd of the 500 Arhats, in the Collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art." Journal of Korean Art and Archaeology, no. 9 (2015): 93-108. page number: Reproduced: p.100 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1979.71/1979.71_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1979.71/1979.71_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1979.71/1979.71_full.tif