Minneapolis Institute of Art

Tigress with Two Cubs

Korea

Date

17th century

Medium

Hanging scroll, ink on paper

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

On a rocky cliffside near the base of an old tree, two tiger cubs play under the watchful eye of their mother. Tigers were a favorite subject for East Asian painters, and Korean paintings of tigers were highly influential in Japan, where painters took Korean examples as their models, especially during and after the 1600s. In fact, this painting itself has a long history in Japan. It has been handed down with a document written in 1863 attributing the painting to Tenshō Shūbun (active c. 1403–50), a highly celebrated medieval Japanese painter to whom many ink paintings in Japan were traditionally attributed. More likely, however, it was created by a Korean artist working in the 1600s before finding its way to Japan, where it remained until recently.

The authoritative record is held by Minneapolis Institute of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.