Buffalo and Herdsman

ca. 1887

Not on view

One of the most engaging of Zen (Ch'an) Buddhist instructional tales is the "Ten Scenes with an Ox" (Jugyuzu), a Southern Song invention. The story of an ox-herding boy in search of his lost charge is an analogy for discipline and enlightenment as the wayward ox, standing for the self, is found, roped, and led home. Appealing as genre scenes, the fifth scene, of the ox being led by the boy (religious training), and the sixth scene, of the boy riding the ox toward home (the two as one), are often repeated apart from the set.

Kawanabe Kyosai trained in the Kano studios and was well acquainted with popular Chinese themes in Japanese painting. His eccentric point of view makes even the most academic and conventionally executed of his works compelling.

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Provenance

Exhibition History

References

Title: Buffalo and Herdsman
Artist: Kawanabe Kyōsai 河鍋暁斎 (Japanese, 1831–1889)
Period: Meiji period (1868–1912)
Date: ca. 1887
Culture: Japan
Medium: Album leaf; ink and color on silk
Dimensions: 14 1/4 x 10 1/2 in. (36.2 x 26.7 cm)
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Charles Stewart Smith Collection, Gift of Mrs. Charles Stewart Smith, Charles Stewart Smith Jr., and Howard Caswell Smith, in memory of Charles Stewart Smith, 1914
Object Number: 14.76.61.16
Curatorial Department: Asian Art

More Artwork

By Kawanabe Kyōsai 河鍋暁斎

In the same medium

From the same time and place

Urashima Tarō Riding on a Tortoise, Kawanabe Kyōsai 河鍋暁斎 Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk, Japan — Urashima Tarō Riding on a Tortoise
Kawanabe Kyōsai 河鍋暁斎
after 1888

Armor (<i>Gusoku</i>), Saotome Ietada Japanese, Iron, lacquer, silk, gilt copper, Japanese — Armor (*Gusoku*)
Armorer Helmet bowl signed Saotome Ietada
Armorer Breastplate inscribed inside, Myōchin Munesuke
16th and 18th centuries

Narcissus, Fan mounted as an album leaf; ink and color on silk, China — Narcissus
China
13th century

Sketches of Birds and Animals, Kawanabe Kyōsai 河鍋暁斎 Japanese, Handscroll; ink on paper, Japan — Sketches of Birds and Animals
Kawanabe Kyōsai 河鍋暁斎
late 19th century, before 1870

Koto (箏), Various woods, ivory, metal, nylon, tortoiseshell, abalone, lacquerwork, Japanese — Koto (箏)
Japanese
20th century

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