Advanced Search
Advanced Search

Dragon


Ryûko zu byôbu
龍虎図屏風
Hasegawa Tôhaku (Japanese, 1539–1610)
Japanese
Momoyama period
dated 1606 (Keichô 11)

Medium/Technique One from a pair of six-panel folding screens; ink on paper
Dimensions 154.2 x 340 cm (60 11/16 x 133 7/8 in.)
Credit Line Fenollosa-Weld Collection
Accession Number11.4808
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAsia
ClassificationsPaintings
"When the dragon rises, clouds appear," and
"When the tiger roars, wind blasts."
These verses are inscribed in the scrolls of Dragon and Tiger by Muqi--a celebrated Chinese monk-painter (active about mid-13th century). With those Muqi's scroll paintings as a model, Tohaku captures the powerful expressions of the two mystic animals and the energy surrounding them. However, the dynamic use of space and composition show Tohaku's own contribution to the genre.

Catalogue Raisonné MFA, Japanese Masterpieces (2012), #44; Kajima Foundation MFA cat. 1 (Japanese ed. 1997, English ed. 1998), ch. VII (Early Kano & Momoyama ptg.), no. 92 (2)
ProvenancePrior to 1886 purchased by Ernest Francisco Fenollosa; 1886 purchased by Charles Goddard Weld from Ernest Fenollosa; 1911 bequeathed by Charles Goddard Weld to the MFA.