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Portrait of Daruma
Portrait of Daruma

Portrait of Daruma

Original Language Title狩野派 達磨図
Artist Kanō School (Japanese)
Dateearly 18th century
MediumHanging scroll; ink on paper
DimensionsImage: 48 × 20 3/8 inches (121.92 × 51.77 cm)
Mount: 75 1/2 × 24 5/8 inches (191.77 × 62.56 cm)
Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. Herman R. Sutherland
Object numberF71-46
On View
Not on view
Collections
Gallery Label
Daruma (Sanskrit: Dharma), an Indian Buddhist monk from the late 400s C.E., glares up with his bulging eyes. He spent nine years in a cave in southern China meditating to achieve enlightenment while staring at a blank wall. According to folklore, he became frustrated with sleepiness and so cut off his eyelids and tossed them onto the ground. A tea plant grew where the eyelids landed, and Daruma ate its leaves, which refreshed his mind. Glaring eyes became the symbol of the devotion of Daruma, who is credited as the founder of Zen Buddhism. Zen monks and nuns cultivate their minds through meditation.
Provenance

With N. V. Hammer, New York, by December 1971;

His gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, December 1971

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