Public data from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Learn more
About the Artwork
Tawaraya Sōtatsu’s painting was inspired by a 1602 Chinese book that featured images of legendary Chinese Buddhist experts and Daoist sages. The monk portrayed here is Niaoge, which literally means “Bird’s Nest.” He was a Zen practitioner who favored the isolation of treetops, from which he offered advice to the perplexed. The posture of the single figure suggests a dialogue with someone below. Sōtatsu was a master of the “boneless” (mokkotsu), or un-outlined, style of ink painting that relies on layered pools of ink wash for effect.
Inscriptions
signed at the lower left of the scroll and sealed "Inen" in red circular form.
Provenance
?–1958: (Mathias Komor [1909–1984], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) 1958–: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Exhibition history
Japanese Decorative Style. The Cleveland Museum of Art (August 30-October 15, 1961); The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (November 9-December 17, 1961). Tea Taste in Japanese Art. The Asia Society Museum, New York, NY (organizer) (February 20-April 21, 1963). Rimpa. Japan Society Gallery, New York, NY (organizer) (September 13-November 13, 1971). Rin-pa. Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, Japan (organizer) (October 10-December 3, 1972). Rimpa Painting. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 19-December 17, 1989). 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). Rimpa. The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan (organizer) (August 21-October 3, 2004). Streams and Mountains Without End: Asian Art and the Legacy of Sherman E. Lee at the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 27-August 23, 2009). Sotatsu: Making Waves. National Museum of Asian Art, Washington, DC (organizer) (October 24, 2015-January 31, 2016). Early Rinpa (Japanese gallery rotation) 235. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (July 23, 2020-January 17, 2021).
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Tawaraya Sōtatsu (Japanese, c. 1570–c. 1640)
- Date
- early to mid-1600s
- Medium
- hanging scroll; ink on paper
- Dimensions
- Image: 95.8 x 38.7 cm (37 11/16 x 15 1/4 in.); Overall: 187.3 x 50.8 cm (73 3/4 x 20 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- Japanese Art
- Credit line
- Norman O. Stone and Ella A. Stone Memorial Fund
- Accession no.
- 1958.289
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Tawaraya Sōtatsu1606 · Painting
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00009387
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