Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00010112About the Artwork
This pair of screens depicts episodes from the stories of famed Song-dynasty poets Su Shi of the 1000s and Zhou-dynasty official Pan Lang of the 900s. Both men were banished by their rulers for their perceived missteps. Su Shi’s comments on a series of economic reforms were seen as criticism of the emperor. Pan Lang composed an ill-advised verse about one of the king’s horses. In the left screen Pan rides backward on his donkey as he returns from exile so that he may have a last look at his now beloved Mount Hua. Su Shi, in the right screen, is shown embarking on his journey into exile. The artist of these screens, Unkoku Tōgan, was the founder of the Unkoku school of painting, which emulated the style of renowned ink painter Sesshū Tōyō (1420–1506). Tōgan was the official painter of the Mori family of what is now Yamaguchi prefecture in the south of Japan.
Inscriptions
Each screen in the pair is impressed with two seals arranged vertically, a round "Unkoku" seal above and square "Togan" seal below.
Provenance
Mr. Shinkichiro Ishimitsu, Hagi City, Yamaguchi Prefecture; Mr. Mitsuru Tajima
Exhibition history
The Lure of Painted Poetry: Japanese and Korean Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 15-August 21, 2011). Japanese Gallery 235 Rotation - January-July 2017. The Cleveland Museum of Art (January 9-July 10, 2017).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Unkoku Tōgan (Japanese, 1547–1618)
- Date
- early 1600s
- Medium
- one of a pair of six-panel folding screens; ink, light color, and gold on paper
- Dimensions
- Image: 155.5 x 360 cm (61 1/4 x 141 3/4 in.); Overall: 172 x 374 cm (67 11/16 x 147 1/4 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- Japanese Art
- Credit line
- John L. Severance Fund
- Accession no.
- 2006.135.1
More by Unkoku Tōgan in museum collections
Open-access museum record · AT-00010112
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