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Green Waves

Green Waves

ca.1910

Tsuji Kako

Japanese, 1870 - 1931

A pivotal work by Tsuji Kako, this screen expresses a “pure, boundless state of mind like the ocean and waves,” in the artist’s words. Though decorative in appearance, the screen is meditative and immersive: with the horizon line high up in the picture, the expansive green waves draw in the viewer.
Ink and gold on silk
67 7/8 x 109 1/2 in. (172.4 x 278.1 cm)
Gift of Griffith and Patricia Way, in honor of the 75th Anniversary of the Seattle Art Museum
2010.41.32
location
Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Reflections on Water: Japanese Modern Prints and Paintings, July 9, 2003 - Feb.15, 2004.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Luminous: The Art of Asia, Oct. 13, 2011 - Jan. 8, 2012.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Boundless: Stories of Asian Art, Feb. 8, 2020 - ongoing [on view Feb. 8, 2020 - July 11, 2021].
Published ReferencesShirahara, Yukiko. "Tsuji Kako and the Modern Spirit," in A Community of Collectors. Seattle, Washington: Seattle Art Museum, 2008, p. 175, reproduced fig. 149.

Michiyo, Morioka; Berry, Paul. "Modern Masters of Kyoto: The Transformation of Japanese Painting Traditions," Seattle, Washington: Seattle Art Museum, 1999; p. 151, reproduced fig. 33.

Kiley, Brendan. "Seattle Asian Art Museum is set to reopen – 3 years and $56 million later." Seattle Times, February 2, 2020: p. E4, reproduced. [A version of this article appears online on January 30, 2020 with the headline: "Step inside the reinvented Seattle Asian Art Museum, set to reopen after 3 years," https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/visual-arts/three-years-and-56-million-later-seattle-asian-art-museum-is-reinvented-and-set-to-reopen.]

Foong, Ping, Xiaojin Wu, and Darielle Mason. "An Asian Art Museum Transformed." Orientations vol. 51, no. 3 (May/June 2020): pp. 52-53, reproduced fig. 11.

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

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