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Portrait of Basho
by Ichijun
About the Artwork
The 15th-century poet Matsuo Basho is still considered Japan’s greatest master of the haiku poem, a short, 17-syllable verse form that relates some aspect of nature to the human experience. Although he was one of the most celebrated men of his day, he pursued a simple life of self-imposed poverty and solitude. In this portrait, Ichijun alluded to Matsuo’s haiku about the transient life: warau beshi naku beshi, waga asagao no, shibomu toki (to smile or to cry when my face in the morning [glory] is wilted).
Inscriptions
一純筆; 一純
Exhibition history
The Year in Review for 1988. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 1-May 14, 1989). The Lure of Painted Poetry: Japanese and Korean Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 15-August 21, 2011).
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Ichijun (Japanese, active 1700s)
- Date
- 1700s
- Medium
- hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
- Dimensions
- Painting only: 28.2 x 47 cm (11 1/8 x 18 1/2 in.); Including mounting: 112.5 x 64.2 cm (44 5/16 x 25 1/4 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- Japanese Art
- Credit line
- John L. Severance Fund
- Accession no.
- 1988.72
Provenance
?–1988: (David Newman, London, England, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) 1988–: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
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-00010084
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