Bodhidharma seated in meditation

Object Details

• Artist

  Hashimoto Gaho 橋本雅邦 (1835-1908)

• Label

  Bodhidharma was the legendary Indian Buddhist monk who taught Zen Buddhist ideas to Chinese disciples, who then transmitted the teachings to Korea and Japan. The human and personal bonds of teacher and pupil were especially strong in Zen Buddhism, which encouraged each individual to seek enlightenment through practices such as meditation. Japanese representations of Bodhidharma often portray him wearing a red monk's robe that covers his head. The cavelike setting recalls a story that he once sat in meditation for nine years facing a cliff at the Shaolin temple in China. Here the artist renders the patriarch with fierce features that express his spiritual strength and an aura of light around his head, often seen in Buddhist representations of deities. This mode of representation reflects the function of such portraits, which were often given by a Zen master to a pupil as

  a symbol of enlightenment or to commemorate the anniversary of Bodhidharma's death.

• Provenance

  To 1902

  Ernest Francisco Fenollosa (1853-1908), New York, NY, and Spring Hill, AL, to 1902 [1]

  From 1902 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Ernest Francisco Fenollosa in 1902 [2]

  From 1920

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Kakemono List, L. 285, pg. 66, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

  [2] See note 1.

  [3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Sotatsu: Making Waves (Saturday, October 24, 2015 to Sunday, January 31, 2016)

  Religious Art of Japan (December 18, 2002 to January 4, 2015)

  Real and Imagined Places in Japanese Art (March 4 to October 21, 2001)

  Japanese Art (May 9, 1993 to August 1, 1994)

  Portraiture from Japan (July 1, 1983 to April 5, 1984)

  Japanese Art (July 1, 1974 to April 10, 1978)

  Japanese Art, Galleries 3, 4, and 5 (January 1, 1963 to September 16, 1970)

  Centennial Exhibition, Galleries 1 and 2 (February 25, 1956 to January 1, 1963)

  Centennial Exhibition, Galleries 3 and 4 (February 25, 1956 to January 1, 1963)

  Untitled Exhibition, Japanese Paintings (October 25, 1955 to November 23, 1955)

  Untitled Exhibition, Japanese Art, 1951 (January 23, 1951 to February 25, 1956)

  Untitled Exhibition, Japanese Art (October 3, 1947 to February 25, 1956)

  Untitled Exhibition, Japanese Hanging Scrolls, Ceramics, and Sculpture (October 2, 1947 to January 23, 1951)

  Untitled Exhibition, Japanese Ceramics and Painting (May 2, 1946 to October 2, 1947)

  Japanese Paintings Buddhist Etc. (January 5, 1928 to December 8, 1941)

  Japanese Paintings and Pottery (May 2, 1923 to December 8, 1941)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Ernest Francisco Fenollosa (1853-1908) (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  Japan

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

  The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections.

Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1900s, 1860s

• Name

  Fenollosa, Ernest Francisco, Freer, Charles Lang

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Charles Lang Freer collection, Daruma, Art, Zen Buddhism, Meditation, Japanese Art, Meiji era (1868 - 1912), Halo, Kakemono

• Culture

  Buddhists, Japanese

• Object Type

  Paintings