robed figure seated on rock over small waves with moonlike halo; sprig of bamboo in vase at L; waterfall at L; cliff and branches above

White-robed Kannon, early 15th century

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In this medieval Zen devotional painting, Kannon reclines on a rocky seaside ledge at his eternal dwelling, the island paradise of Fudaraku. The anonymous artist, probably a Zen priest-painter, uses carefully gradated washes of diluted ink to suggest the damp surface of the rocky ledge and the mistiness of Kannon’s watery paradise. Numerous forms of the bodhisattva Kannon exist within the vast Buddhist pantheon, including abstruse forms with eleven heads and a thousand arms. The strikingly human form of Kannon seen here, wearing white robes and seated in nature, was popular in the Zen school of Buddhism.

Details
Title
White-robed Kannon
Role
Artist
Accession Number
2015.79.47
Provenance
Gift from Chauncy Griggs, Tacoma, Washington, December 1983, to Mary Burke
Catalogue Raisonne
Murase, Art through a Lifetime, no. 93
Curator Approved

This record is from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator, so may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@artsmia.org.

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robed figure seated on rock over small waves with moonlike halo; sprig of bamboo in vase at L; waterfall at L; cliff and branches above