Hotei with Daoist Immortals: Hotei
1646
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1646
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Hotei with Daoist Immortals: Hotei is a 1646 unspecified by Kyūseki Tomonobu, a Baroque work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
This triptych shows a big laughing monk (Hotei) in the center panel. He holds a sack while two side panels add Chinese immortals in flowing robes. Painted in late 1600s Japan, this rare work mixes Zen and Daoist figures. Hotei’s joyful face and bag of treasures made him a folk hero, not just a religious icon. Look up how Hotei became Japan’s “Laughing Buddha.”
Hotei was a Chan (Japanese: Zen) monk living in China during the 900s who, in the 1300s, became a legendary figure in Japan. At that time a popular cult praising him sprang up, extending beyond Zen to other religious communities. This rare triptych embraces a central Zen icon with flanking Daoist images, thereby suggesting the compatibility-rather than the exclusivity-of these two creeds. Hotei also enjoys popularity in Japan as a kind of genre, or folk figure, which explains his mirthful expression in Japanese paintings. The Daoist figures in contrast appear eccentric and foreign-looking, in…
Read the full account in the museum source.
Kyūseki Tomonobu (1653–1721) was a Japanese artist.
See the richer artist pageYour cart is empty
Explore artworks →
