id: 90151 accession number: 2015.463 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2015.463 updated: 2022-01-04 14:33:51.319000 Calligraphy with Willow and Swallows, 1400s. Ikkyū Sōjun (Japanese, 1394-1481). Hanging scroll, ink on paper; overall: 104 x 34.8 cm (40 15/16 x 13 11/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift from the Collection of George Gund III 2015.463 title: Calligraphy with Willow and Swallows title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1400s creation date earliest: 1400 creation date latest: 1481 current location: creditline: Gift from the Collection of George Gund III copyright: --- culture: Japan, Muromachi period (1392-1573) technique: hanging scroll, ink on paper department: Japanese Art collection: ASIAN - Hanging scroll type: Painting find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Ikkyū Sōjun (Japanese, 1394-1481) - artist --- measurements: Overall: 104 x 34.8 cm (40 15/16 x 13 11/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: How many days has it rid itself of the crow’s cloth? It knows not!/ Lovely is its body so nimble and neat./ Neither men of wealth, courtly position, or power can come close to the unfettered, noble swallow!/ With the coming of spring, it seems to be flying about, dancing around the grass hut of the foolish Priest. signed: Unkasō Isshi Tōkai jun Ikkyū shi ga ippitsu translation: remark: inscription: outer box inscribed: Ikkyū Ōshō Enshi-zu Jigasan translation: remark: inscription: inner box side lid inscribed: Showa 50 (1975), November by Tayama Honan with kao translation: remark: inscription: Inner box side lid inscribed: Ikkyū Ōshō Bokuseki translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Ink Paintings and Ash-Glazed Ceramics: Medieval Calligraphy, Painting, and Ceramic Art from Japan and Korea opening date: 2000-03-19T00:00:00 Ink Paintings and Ash-Glazed Ceramics: Medieval Calligraphy, Painting, and Ceramic Art from Japan and Korea. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (March 19-May 28, 2000). title: Japanese Gallery 235 Rotation opening date: 2018-01-02T05:00:00 Japanese Gallery 235 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (January 2-July 9, 2018). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE George Gund III [1937-2013], bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art date: ?-2015 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 2015- footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: The famed Buddhist monk Ikkyū is best remembered for his calligraphy. Calligraphic conventions of his time called for brushwork that did not vary much in style from character to character. However, as Ikkyū’s lines progress, his brushwork wanders between standard script and a sort of shorthand, marked by an uneven distribution of ink and a reduction of the characters to only the most necessary strokes. Ikkyū’s direct communication of emotion via brushwork became characteristic of the works produced by monks affiliated with the temple Daitokuji later in the Edo period (1615–1868). --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Cunningham, Michael R., Shinʼichi Miyajima, and Yūji Yamashita. Ink Paintings and Ash-Glazed Ceramics: Medieval Calligraphy, Painting, and Ceramic Art from Japan and Korea. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2000. page number: Reproduced: cat. no. 4, pp. 28-30 url: Longhi, Leighton R. Leighton R. Longhi: Forty-Five Years in Asian Art. [New York, N.Y.]: Leighton R. Longhi, 2019. page number: Reproduced: p. 42, fig. 16 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2015.463/2015.463_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2015.463/2015.463_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2015.463/2015.463_full.tif