The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 23, 2024

Tiger Family

Tiger Family

late 1800s
(1392–1910)
hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
Image: 170 x 90.4 cm (66 15/16 x 35 9/16 in.); Overall: 262.5 x 115.1 cm (103 3/8 x 45 5/16 in.)
Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 1997.148
Location: 236 Korean

Did You Know?

A great number of tigers used to have live in the Korean peninsula. An old Chinese proverb says: “Korean people hunt tigers half of the year, and tigers hunt people other half of the year.”

Description

In deep mountains, a tigress, two cubs, and a leopard welcome the early morning sun. This is not merely a playful scene but a well calculated image with symbols of longevity (pine trees), prosperity (tigress and cubs), and good fortune (leopard). Traditionally, on New Year’s Eve, the image of a fearsome-looking tiger was pasted on entrance doors to ward off evil spirits. Conventional Korean tiger paintings often include frolicking magpies, but here, the crimson sun is placed behind a majestic pine. Through the sunrise and the details of the felines’ skin shines the artist’s keen interest in creating a realistic atmosphere.
  • ?–1997
    (Kozo Mabumoto 藪本公三, Amagasaki, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1997–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Cleveland Museum of Art, “Major African Sculpture, Recent Mark Tansey Painting, and Other Works of Art Enter CMA Collection,” September 16, 1997, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org
    Cunningham, Michael R., "Year of the Tiger", Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 38 no. 04, April 1998 Mentioned & reproduced: p. 8-9 archive.org
    Sung, Hou-mei. Decoded Messages: The Symbolic Language of Chinese Animal Painting. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009.
    Yun, Jin-young. "Study on the Types and Images of Tiger Paintings Dated to the Mid-and-Late Joseon Period [조선중·후기 虎圖의 유형과 도상]." Jangseogak (2012): 192- 234. www.dbpia.co.kr
    Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 53 no. 03, May/June 2013 Mentioned & reproduced: p. cover-2 archive.org
    Treasures from Korea: Arts and Culture of the Joseon Dynasty, 1392-1910. Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2014.
    Tigers in East Asian Art [동 아시아 의 호랑이 미술 ]. Seoul: National Museum of Korea, 2018.
  • Old and New in Korean Art (Korean art rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 28, 2022-April 23, 2023).
    Japanese and Korean Gallery Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (July 6, 2015-January 4, 2016).
    Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 238). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (June 13, 2013-January 28, 2014).
  • {{cite web|title=Tiger Family|url=false|author=|year=late 1800s|access-date=23 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1997.148