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Tiger and bamboo

Photo: Spike Mafford
From the photography invoice: "This is a work for hire production and Spike Mafford does not retain any rights to the images created."

Tiger and bamboo

early 17th century

Koi Kano

Japanese

A Chinese phrase—"when the tiger roars, wind rises”—conveys well the tiger’s mighty strength. In Japanese ink painting, as in its Chinese prototype, the tiger is often depicted with bamboo, the motion of which suggests the wind caused by the tiger’s roar. In this screen, the tiger turns its head to its left, as if looking at something on the other side. It is conceivable that originally a screen of the dragon and clouds was paired with this screen.
Six-panel screen; ink on paper
59 5/8 x 137 1/2in. (151.4 x 349.3cm)
Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection
37.56
Photo: Spike Mafford
location
Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistoryShizuoka City, Japan, Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art, Great Masters of the Kano School, Apr. 22 - May 21, 1989.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Rabbit, Cat and Horse: Endearing Creatures in Japanese Art, Dec. 21, 2002 - Mar. 16, 2003.

Tokyo, Japan, Suntory Museum of Art, Luminous Jewels: Masterpieces of Asian Art From the Seattle Art Museum, July 25 - Sept. 6, 2009 (Kobe, Japan, Kobe City Museum, Sept. 19 - Dec. 6, 2009; Kofu, Japan, Yamanashi Prefectural Museum of Art, Dec. 23, 2009 - Feb. 28, 2010; Atami, Japan, MOA Museum of Art, Mar. 13 - May 9, 2010; Fukuoka, Japan, Fukuoka Art Museum, May 23 - July 19, 2010).

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Boundless: Stories of Asian Art, Feb. 8, 2020 - ongoing [on view July 29, 2022 - Jan. 8, 2023].
Published References"Handbook, Seattle Art Museum: Selected Works from the Permanent Collections." Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1951, p. 99 (b&w)

Fuller, Richard E. "Japanese Art in the Seattle Art Museum: An Historical Sketch." Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1960 ("Presented in commemoration of the Hundredth Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations between Japan and the United States of America"), no. 102

Kawai, Masatomo, Yasuhiro Nishioka, Yukiko Sirahara, editors, "Luminous Jewels: Masterpieces of Asian Art From the Seattle Art Museum", 2009, The Yomiuri Shimbun, catalogue number 40

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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