This Zen Buddhist painting presents a strikingly human image of the bodhisattva Kannon, who relaxes near a waterfall in a woodland setting. He is visited by Sudhana, the archetypal pilgrim who sought the bodhisattva in Potalaka, Kannon’s island paradise. Images of this type were first brought back from China by Zen monks, and many Japanese examples were created beginning in the Muromachi period (1392–1573). This early scroll adheres closely to Chinese models and reveals the roots of Japanese Zen painting in ink.
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白衣観音図
Title:White-robed Kannon
Period:Nanbokuchō period (1336–92)
Date:14th century
Culture:Japan
Medium:Hanging scroll; ink on silk
Dimensions:Image: 45 3/4 × 20 3/8 in. (116.2 × 51.8 cm) Overall with mounting: 82 3/4 × 26 1/4 in. (210.2 × 66.7 cm) Overall with knobs: 82 3/4 × 28 5/8 in. (210.2 × 72.7 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Purchase, Bequest of Dorothy Graham Bennett, Herbert J. Coyne Gift, Seymour Fund and Fletcher Fund, by exchange, 1985
Accession Number:1985.120.2
[ Yabumoto Kōzō , Amagasaki, Japan; about 1974–1985; sold to MMA]
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Manifestations of the Merciful Bodhisattva: Kannon," 1989.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Seasonal Pleasures in Japanese Art (Part One)," October 12, 1995–April 28, 1996.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Arts of Japan," 1998.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Blossoms of Many Colors: A Selection from the Permanent Collection of Japanese Art," March 21–August 9, 2000.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Enlightening Pursuits," February 28–August 5, 2001.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Written Image: Japanese Calligraphy and Paintings from the Sylvan Barnet and William Burto Collection," October 1, 2002–March 2, 2003.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Birds, Flowers, and Buddhist Paradise Imagery in Japanese Art," February 14–June 13, 2004.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Flowing Streams: Scenes from Japanese Arts and Life," December 21, 2006–June 3, 2007.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Animals, Birds, Insects, and Marine Life in Japanese Art," June 26–November 30, 2008.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Arts of Japan Galleries," February 2–July 28, 2013.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Japan: A History of Style," March 8, 2021–April 24, 2022.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Anxiety and Hope in Japanese Art," April 8, 2023–July 14, 2024.
Tokyo Kokuritsu Bunkazai Kenkyūjo 東京国立文化財研究所, ed. Nyūyōku Metoroporitan Bijutsukan, kaiga, chōkoku ニューヨークメトロポリタン美術館，絵画・彫刻 (Painting and sculpture of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) Kaigai shozai Nihon bijutsuhin chōsa hōkoku 海外所在日本美術品調查報告 (Catalogue of Japanese art in foreign collections) 1. Tokyo: Kobunkazai Kagaku Kenkyūkai, 1991, p. 27, cat. no. 76.
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