| Dragon; Tiger | |
|---|---|
| Chinese:龍虎圖 | |
 | |
| Artist | Muqi |
| Year | 1250-1279 |
| Medium | hanging scroll |
| Dimensions | 125.2 cm × 57.2 cm (49 5/16 in × 22 1/2 in) |
| Location | Cleveland Museum of Art,Cleveland |
| Accession | 1958.427 |
| Website | https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1958.427 |
Dragon, Tiger (Chinese: 龍虎圖) are a set of twohanging scroll paintings onsilk, painted by theChan (Zen) artistMuqi Fachang during theSouthern Song dynasty, contemporary to that of theKamakura period. Now housed at theCleveland Museum of Art, the painting was exported fromChina toJapan soon after its creation, where it enjoyed long time ownership under theAshikaga shogunate.[1][2]
Like the paintingSix Persimmons, held byDaitoku-ji,Kyoto, Muqi's paintings has long been considered popular in Japan.[3]
Thedragon andtiger are a common motif inChinese art, both representingyin and yang, polar yet complementary energies. The paintings utilize the dynamic by having the dragon in a darker background, head emerging out. Meanwhile, the tiger is done on a lighter background, taking up a good portion of the scrolls, licking its paw, tail curled.[1]
Currently displayed as adiptych, the original painting would be atriptych when on display in the temple, like an image ofKannon.[1][4]
The silk has faded along with the red ink, which would have been applied on the tiger's nose and tongue.[1]
Muqi is well received in Japan, but contemporary at the time, his reception was mixed in China.[5]
His ink play works are coarse and vulgar and do not follow the ancient rules - Tang Hou,Huajian (1328)[6][5]
Additional contemporary reviews included a piece by Xia Wenyan.[5]
He likes to paint dragons and tigers, monkeys and cranes, reeds and geese, landscapes, trees and rocks, as well as figures. All of his works are done with sketchy strokes and dots of ink. His conceptions are simple, and he doesn't decorate -Tuhui baojian (1365)[5]
Art critics of theYuan dynasty, such as Xia Wenyuan, Wu Taisu, Zhaung Su, do note Muqi's tendencies towards the "dragon and tiger" motif.[5]
Dragon; Tiger would end up being exported to Japan soon after its creation. The earliest datable ownership derives from the seal inscription: 道有 (Japanese: Dōyū), indicating ownership by theshogunAshikaga Yoshimitsu (1358-1408).[1][2]
Additional owners who imprinted their seals on the painting includeAshikaga Yoshinori andTokugawa Iemitsu. In the 19th century, the painting went under the ownership of theSakai clan from the lateEdo period to earlyMeiji era. Subsequently arriving in the United States, whereupon on 20 July 1959, the painting was acquired byMonuments Men and former Far Eastern and Near Eastern art curator Howard C. Hollis, who established his own art dealership in 1949.[1][2][7]
The movement that Muqi would be a part of,Zenga, would have a major influence inJapanese art over the course of centuries, reflecting on works from subsequent artists, such asSesson Shukei,Nagasawa Rosetsu, and so on.[4][8]
Another painting initially attributed to Muqi, acquired by theMetropolitan Museum of Art in 1912 (12.123.1 and 12.123.2), though later determined not to be of his hand (dated tot the 16th-17th centuries), may be of Japanese or Korean origin, and also indicative of the sphere of influence that he is a part of.[9][10]