Festival of Insects (c. 1615–1868): Art, History and Details

Festival of Insects (c. 1615–1868) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Motsurin Jōtō (Japanese, d. 1492).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This painting depicts humanlike figures with antennae engaged in a festival procession. They transport a gourd like a float, with two teams pulling ropes in front, and others maneuvering it with poles from behind. They are accompanied by flutes and drums, urged on by a dancer holding a fan and a branch. The inscription is attributed to the monk-painter Motsurin Jōtō (Bokusai), well known in Japan as a disciple of Ikkyū Sōjun and an accomplished portrait artist.

Object facts

• Title: Festival of Insects
• Date: c. 1615–1868
• Creator attribution: Motsurin Jōtō (Japanese, d. 1492)
• Culture: Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
• Type: Painting
• Technique: Hanging scroll; ink on paper
• Dimensions: Image: 30.7 x 45 cm (12 1/16 x 17 11/16 in.); Overall: 122.5 x 55.9 cm (48 1/4 x 22 in.)
• Collection: ASIAN - Hanging scroll
• Department: Japanese Art
• Accession number: 1988.16

Collection credit

Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Itō Heizandō 伊藤平山堂 and Tōkyō Bijutsu Kurabu 東京美術俱樂部 [and 14 others]. Setta-ke zōhin tenkan mokuroku 說田家藏品展觀目錄 . Tōkyō: Tōkyō Bijutsu Kurabu, 1932.
• “The Year in Review for 1988.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 76, no. 2 (February 1989): 30–75.
• Tōyō kaiga no seika: tokubetsuten: Kurīvurando Bijutsukan no korekushon kara [東洋絵画の精華: 特别展: クリーヴラント美術館のコレクションから= Highlights of Asian painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art]. Nara, Japan: Nara National Museum, 1998.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.