Hotei / Ogata Kôrin

Viewer

Actions

file_download Download image 96 x 148 (JPEG) 193 x 297 (JPEG) 387 x 594 (JPEG) 775 x 1189 (JPEG)

About this Item

Record Details

Accession Number
1965/1.157
Title
Hotei
Artist
Ogata Kôrin
Artist Nationality
Japanese
Artist Life Dates
(Kyoto, 1658 - 1716)
Medium and Support
ink and light color on paper
Object Creation Date
circa 1700-1716
Object Creation Place
Asia (continent)
Japan (nation)
Creation Place 1
Asia (continent)
Creation Place 2
Japan (nation)
Style/Group/Movement
Rimpa
Inscription
Signed below the figure's left knee: Korin; Seal below the figure's left knee: Kansei.
Dimensions
21.3 cm x 22.5 cm (8 3/8 in. x 8 7/8 in.)
Century
18th century
Primary Object Classification
Painting
Primary Object Type
hanging scroll
Secondary Object Classification
Painting
Secondary Object Type
fan painting
Physical Description
The shape of the circle repeats four times in this painting. It appears in the plump body of Hotei, his head, his large white sack, and the overall shape of the fan.
Subject Matter
Hotei (known in Chinese as Putai) is the fond nickname for a tenth-century Chinese monk named Qici, who attained legendary status as an exemplar of Zen ideals. Hotei is recognizable by his large belly and his equally enormous alms bag, which he carried everywhere. His very name is a pun: Hotei literally means “cloth sack”—and by extension, “glutton.”
Hotei became a favorite subject for Zen monk-painters in China and Japan as early as the thirteenth century. Artists delighted in the possibilities for visual punning, drawing both Hotei’s belly and his sack as enormous circles. An empty circle—a perfect geometric shape without beginning or end—is used in Zen as an abstract symbol representing the erasure of opposites, a fundamental Buddhist teaching.
Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit https://umma.umich.edu/about/services/request-image/ for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.

Technical Details

Image Size
775 x 1189
File Size
58 KB
Record
1965/1.157
Link to this Item
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1965-sl-1.157/1965_1.157.jpg

Rights and Permissions

Portfolios

Manifest
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/api/manifest/musart:1965-SL-1.157:1965_1.157.JPG

Cite this Item

View the Help Guide for more information.

Full citation
"Hotei; Ogata Kôrin." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Art. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1965-sl-1.157/1965_1.157.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed March 28, 2024.
Do you have questions about this content? Need to report a problem? Please contact us.