Description
Among the subjects of souvenir paintings made since the 1600s in Ōtsu, a travel hub near Kyoto in western Japan, was a demon in monk’s robes reciting the name of the Buddha Amida to the rhythm of his gong. Ōtsu paintings largely disappeared with the advent of rail travel in the late 1800s, as people no longer stopped in the area. In this work, Kyoto-based artist Suzuki Shōnen reimagined the demon for the modern era—the simple figure from the Ōtsu painting is transformed into a realistic one accompanied by a calligraphic meditation on its nature.
Provenance
(David Newman, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) (?–1991); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1991–)
Accession Number
1991.77
Medium
hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
Dimensions
Overall: 194.4 x 61 cm (76 9/16 x 24 in.); Painting only: 106 x 42 cm (41 3/4 x 16 9/16 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Kelvin Smith Fund
Tags
Painting Impressionist & Modern (1851–1900) Ink Silk Painting Japanese
Background & Context
Background Story
Suzuki Shonen (1849-1918) was a Japanese painter known for the dynamically composed, atmospheric paintings of Buddhist subjects that make him one of the most accomplished painters of the Meiji period. Demon Intoning the Name of the Buddha from the late 1800s-early 1900s depicts a demon intoning the name of the Buddha in the dynamically composed, atmospheric manner that distinguishes Shonen's best work from the more general Buddhist painting of his contemporaries. The subject of a demon intoning the Buddha's name represents the Buddhist concept that even demons can be saved through the power of the Buddha's name, and Shonen's dynamically composed treatment shows Buddhist painting at its most atmospheric in the Meiji period.
Cultural Impact
Demon Intoning the Name of the Buddha is important in the history of Japanese Buddhist painting because it demonstrates the dynamically composed, atmospheric manner that Suzuki Shonen brought to Buddhist subjects as one of the most accomplished painters of the Meiji period. The subject of a demon intoning the Buddha's name—representing the Buddhist concept that even demons can be saved—is one of the most dynamically composed subjects in Japanese Buddhist painting, and the late 1800s-early 1900s painting shows this tradition at its most atmospheric.
Why It Matters
Demon Intoning the Name of the Buddha is Suzuki Shonen's dynamically composed Meiji Buddhist painting: a demon intoning the Buddha's name rendered in the atmospheric manner of one of the most accomplished painters of the Meiji period. The late 1800s-early 1900s painting shows the Buddhist concept of universal salvation at its most dynamically composed.
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