The Four Accomplishments

Original Language Title琴棋書画図

Artist Kaihō Yūshō (Japanese, 1533 - 1615)

Date16th-17th century

MediumSix-fold screen; ink, color, and gold foil on paper

DimensionsOverall: 64 × 136 3/4 inches (162.56 × 347.35 cm)

Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust

Object number60-13/1

On View

Not on view

Collections

East Asian Art

Terms

DescriptionOne of a pair of six-fold screensExhibition History

Exhibition History

Japanese Art in America: Prehistory-A.D. – 1900, Scripps College Art Galleries, CA, April 19 – May 15, 1960.

Gallery Label

In ancient China, gentlemen enriched their minds by engaging in cultural pursuits approved by Confucianism. The four scholarly pastimes were regarded as the most respectful pursuits. From right to left, they are the art of chess represented by the board game of go, the art of music represented by the instruments carried by a servant boy, the art of painting represented by scroll papers on a large table and the art of calligraphy represented by books on a table. The pastimes came to be admired in Japan, where knowledge of Chinese culture revealed a person’s education and sophistication.

Provenance

Purchase –

With Hideo Taniguchi, Kyoto, October 14, 1959.

With Mr. John Yeon, United States of America, by 1960;

Purchased from Mr. John Yeon by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1960.

Published References

Ross E. Taggart, George L. McKenna, and Marc F. Wilson, eds., Handbook of the Collections in The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, Kansas City, Missouri, vol. II, Art of the Orient. (Kansas City, MO: The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 1973) 107.

Roger Ward and Patricia J. Fidler, eds., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection (New York: Hudson Hills Press, in association with The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 1993) 362.

Deborah Emont Scott, ed., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection, 7th ed. (Kansas City, MO: The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2008) 389, no.32.

J. Leroy Davidson, Japanese Art in America : Prehistory-A.D. 1900, exh. cat. (Claremont, CA: Scripps College, 1960) pl. 21, 22.

J. Leroy Davidson, “Japan & the Dehumanization of Beauty” ART NEWS, April 1960, 25.

Kawai Masatomo, “Yūshō/Tōgan” in Nihon bijutsu Kaiga zenshu, vol 11. ( Tokyo: Shūeisha, 1978) 136-37, pl.34.

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