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Birds and Flowers

Sesshū Tōyōmid-1400s-early 1500s

The Cleveland Museum of Art

The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States

This is one of two paintings possibly by Sesshū Tōyō. They once flanked a central scroll with an ink landscape. The unbalanced nature of the compositions, however, suggests they may be images recycled from larger paintings. The one with sweet osmanthus and hibiscus is an autumn scene, the other is a summer scene with daylilies and gardenias. Folding screens often contrast two seasons or depict all four across a single pair of screens. Sesshū’s works were sufficiently prized that repurposing them in fragmentary form to display in an alcove of a luxurious room would not be an unusual choice.

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  • Title: Birds and Flowers
  • Creator: Sesshū Tōyō (Japanese, 1420-1506)
  • Date Created: mid-1400s-early 1500s
  • Physical Dimensions: Image: 55.9 x 53.4 cm (22 x 21 in.); Overall: 117 x 58 cm (46 1/16 x 22 13/16 in.)
  • Provenance: Mrs. A. Dean Perry [Helen Wade Greene Perry] [1911-1996], Cleveland, OH, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Type: Painting
  • Rights: CC0
  • External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1964.157.2
  • Medium: Hanging scroll from a triptych; ink and color on silk
  • Original Title: 花鳥図
  • Department: Japanese Art
  • Culture: Japan, Muromachi period (1392-1573)
  • Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry
  • Collection: ASIAN - Hanging scroll
  • Accession Number: 1964.157.2
The Cleveland Museum of Art

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