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Forbidden to the Vulgar
About the Artwork
Gyokudo painted in the Nanga style (literary men's school of painting), originally influenced by 18th-century Chinese painting. Most of his landscapes are variations on the theme of tall mountains and remote huts. Note the spontaneity of the brushstrokes and how the dry, rough ink works with the texture of the paper. Born to an ancient samurai family, Gyokudo was trained in the Chinese classics and studied painting, poetry, and the koto (kind of zither). He devoted himself to art and music, painting, drinking, and playing the koto as he wandered about the country.
Inscriptions
Inscriptions upper left are title and signature
Exhibition history
Year in Review (1964). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 8, 1964-January 31, 1965). Visions of Landscape: East and West. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 17-March 21, 1982). Suibokuga: Japanese Ink Painting. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 1, 1985-February 24, 1986). Mountains, Rocks, and Water: Landscape Painting in Asia. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 2-December 13, 1987).
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Uragami Gyokudō (Japanese, 1745–1820)
- Date
- late 1800s-early 1900s
- Medium
- hanging scroll; ink on paper
- Dimensions
- With mount: 67.2 cm (26 7/16 in.); Painting only: 134.6 x 51.1 cm (53 x 20 1/8 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- Japanese Art
- Credit line
- Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund
- Accession no.
- 1964.367
Provenance
?–1964: (N. V. Hammer, Inc., New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) 1964–: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
More by Uragami Gyokudō in museum collections
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-00009910
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