The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 18, 2024

White-Robed Guanyin

White-Robed Guanyin

late 1200s–early 1300s
(Chinese, active around 1300)
inscription by

Zhongfeng Mingben

(Chinese, 1263–1323)
China, Yuan dynasty (1271-1368)
hanging scroll; ink on paper
Painting: 78.7 x 31.7 cm (31 x 12 1/2 in.); Overall with knobs: 164 x 38 cm (64 9/16 x 14 15/16 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1978.47.1
Location: not on view

Description

Guanyin, the bodhisattva of infinite compassion (Avalokiteshvara, in Sanskrit), reveals himself in many forms. According to Buddhist belief, one such manifestation is the white-robed Guanyin sitting on a rock on the island of Putuo (Potalaka, in Sanskrit), located along the coast not far from Ningbo, in Zhejiang Province, China.

Here, the figure was swiftly drawn in only a few ink lines. The inscription above is by Zhongfeng Mingben, perhaps the most widely respected and influential Chan (Zen in Japanese) master in the Yuan dynasty. The artist’s signature is a single line below on the left: Huanzhu Yongzhong.
  • ?–1978
    (Yamanaka and Company, Ltd., Kyoto, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1978–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Toshirō Ebine 海老根聰郎. "'Avalokiteśvara in White' by Huan-chu Yung-chung 幻住永中 白衣觀音図." Kobijutsu 古美術 no. 34, August 1971, pp. 86–96. Reproduced: color plate p. 89 and plates p. 90
    Kannon no kaiga: sono bi to rekishi. Nara, Japan: Yamato Bunkakan, 1974. p. 14
    Tōkyō Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan. Gendai doshaku jinbutsuga, tokubetsu tenkan. Tokyo: [publisher not identified], 1975. cat. no. 4
    Kawakami, Kei 川上涇, Teisuke Toda 戶田禎佑, and Toshio Ebine 海老根聰郎. Ryō Kai, Indara [粱楷・因陀羅 = Liang Kai, Yintuoluo]. Tōkyō: Kōdansha, Shōwa 50 [1975]. Reproduced: p. 117, pl. 90
    Lee, Sherman E. "The Year in Review for 1978." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 66, no. 1 (Jan. 1979): 3-47. Reproduced: p. 5, 46, no. 140 25159613
    Ho, Wai-kam, Sherman E. Lee, Laurence Sickman, and Marc F. Wilson. Eight Dynasties of Chinese Painting: The Collections of the Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum, Kansas City, and the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1980. Reproduced: cat. no. 97, pp. 122-123
    Tōyō kaiga no seika : tokubetsuten : Kurīvurando Bijutsukan no korekushon kara [東洋絵画の精華 : 特别展 : クリーヴラント美術館のコレクションから = Highlights of Asian painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art]. Japan: Nara National Museum, 1998. Reproduced: p. 49, cat. no. 26
    Arnold, Lauren. Princely gifts and papal treasures: the Franciscan mission to China and its influence on the art of the West, 1250-1350. San Francisco: Desiderata Press, 1999. Reproduced: p. 27, Fig. 1-14
    May, Elsie D. Our Guardian Angels. Lewes: Book Guild, 2001. P. 5
    Watt, James C. Y., and Maxwell K. Hearn. The World of Khubilai Khan: Chinese Art in the Yuan Dynasty. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2010. p. 95, fig. 125
    Watt, James C. Y., and Maxwell K. Hearn. The World of Khubilai Khan: Chinese Art in the Yuan Dynasty. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2010. Reproduced: p. 95, fig. 125
    Leidy, Denise Patry. "Buddhism and Other 'Foreign' Practices in Yuan China." In The World of Khubilai Khan: Chinese Art in the Yuan Dynasty. James C. Y. Watt and Maxwell K. Hearn. Ex. Cat. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2010. Reproduced: p. 95, fig. 125
    Little, Stephen. "Chinese Calligraphy." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 74, no. 9 (1987): 372-403. Reproduced: pp. 386-388; fig. 20a & 20b www.jstor.org
  • Taming Tigers and Releasing Dragons: Masterpieces of Chinese Buddhist Art – Chinese Gallery Rotation 240a, 241c. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 8-August 11, 2019).
    Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 119). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (October 29, 2003-March 15, 2004).
    Highlights of Asian Paintings from The Cleveland Museum of Art. Nara National Museum (organizer) (February 21-March 29, 1998); Suntory Museum of Art (April 28-June 21, 1998).
    Eight Dynasties of Chinese Painting. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (November 7, 1980-January 4, 1981); The Cleveland Museum of Art (February 11-March 29, 1981); Tokyo National Museum (October 4-November 17, 1982); The Asia Society Museum, New York, NY (December 3, 1982-February 28, 1983).
    Kannon no kaiga: sono bi to rekishi [觀音の繪畫]. Yamato Bunkakan, Kyoto, Japan (April 25-May 26, 1974).
  • {{cite web|title=White-Robed Guanyin|url=false|author=Jueji Yongzhong, Zhongfeng Mingben|year=late 1200s–early 1300s|access-date=18 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1978.47.1