The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 22, 2024

Portrait of Duli Xingyi

Portrait of Duli Xingyi

1671
(Japanese, active c. 1664–98)
(Chinese, 1596–1672)
Painting: 111.4 x 50.1 cm (43 7/8 x 19 3/4 in.); Mounted: 211.8 x 63.8 cm (83 3/8 x 25 1/8 in.)
Location: not on view

Description

In this portrait, the Ōbaku school Buddhist monk Duli Xingyi (born Tai Li, 1596–1672), whose name is pronounced Dokuryū Shōeki in Japanese, sits upon a woven mat holding a ceremonial scepter known as a ruyi, or nyoi in Japanese. Above his head is an insciption he added to the painting in 1671, the year before his death. It may be translated to read:

Contemplative emptiness: the moon suspended over the village at midnight. Suddenly my soul is startled by the howl of an ape. Who could know that it would arouse me beyond my senses, and bring me an inner vision from Mt. Sumeru.
(translated by Stephen Addiss and Kwan S. Wong)

Originally from what is now the city of Hangzhou in China, Duli emigrated to Japan in 1653, where he took monastic vows. His skills in calligraphy and seal carving were formidable. Painter Kita Genki combined Chinese brush styles he learned in Nagasaki with Western painting techniques to capture Duli's likeness.
  • ?–1965
    (N. V. Hammer, Inc., New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1965–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Addiss, Stephen, and Kwan S. Wong. Obaku, Zen Painting and Calligraphy. Lawrence: Helen Foresman Spencer Museum of Art, 1978. cat. no. 14
    Nagami, Tokutarō. Nagasaki no bijutsushi. Kyōto-shi: Rinsen Shoten, 1974.
    Nishimura, Tei. Ōbaku gazōshi. Tōkyō: Toritsugijo Sōgensha, 1934.
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 284 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 384 archive.org
    Sharf, Elizabeth Horton. "Ōbaku Zen Portrait Painting and Its Sino-Japanese Heritage." In Images in Asian religions: texts and contexts, pp. 294–349. Phyllis Emily Granoff and Koichi Shinohara, editors. Vancouver: UBC Press, 2004. Reproduced: p. 327, Fig. 9.16 (detail)
    Grossman, Nancy, James T. Ulak, Marjorie Williams, and Laurence Channing. Art of Japan: Masterpieces from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2005. p. 89
    Ulak, James, T. "Uncomfortable Realites: Reflecting on Sherman Lee's Hunches," Orientations (Jan/Feb. 2005), vol. 36, no. 1, p. 80, repr. p. 79. Mentioned: p. 80; Reproduced p. 79
    Admired from afar: masterworks of Japanese painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art [クリーブランド美術館展: 名画でたどる日本の美 = Kurīburando Bijutsukan ten: meiga de tadoru Nihon no bi ]. Tokyo: Tōkyō Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan, 2014. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 63, cat. no. 17
    Johnston, John. "True Image: The Art of Ōbaku and Legacy of Yinyuan Longqi (Ingen Ryūki)." Orientations 54, no. 5 (September/October 2023): 104-115 Reproduced: p. 106 fig. 2; Mentioned: p. 107
  • Admired from Afar: Masterworks of Japanese Painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, Japan (January 15-February 23, 2014); Kyushu National Museum, Fukuoka, Japan (July 8-August 31, 2014).
    The Art of Obaku. Kyoto National Museum (organizer) (October 5-November 7, 1993).
    Portraiture: The Image of the Individual. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 22, 1983-January 22, 1984).
    Reflections of Reality in Japanese Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 16-May 1, 1983).
    日本の仏教を築いた人びと: その肖像と書 (Those Who Built Japanese Buddhism: Portraits and Calligraphy). Nara National Museum, Nara 630, Japan (organizer) (April 29-June 7, 1981).
    Journey of the Three Jewels: Japanese Buddhist Paintings in Western Collections. Asia House Galleries, New York City, NY (organizer) (October 11-December 9, 1979); Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO (March 27-May 11, 1980).
    Obaku: Zen Painting and Calligraphy. Helen Foresman Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, KS (organizer) (April 8-May 31, 1978); New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA (June 15-August 6, 1978).
    Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 121). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (March 10–July 16, 2003).
    Year in Review: 1965. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 27-November 14, 1965).
  • {{cite web|title=Portrait of Duli Xingyi|url=false|author=Kita Genki, Duli Xingyi|year=1671|access-date=22 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1965.31