# Portrait of Basho

**Ichijun** (Japanese, active 1700s)  
1700s  
hanging scroll; ink and color on paper  
Painting only: 28.2 x 47 cm (11 1/8 x 18 1/2 in.); Including mounting: 112.5 x 64.2 cm (44 5/16 x 25 1/4 in.)

Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1988.72. [The museum's record](https://clevelandart.org/art/1988.72).

## About this work

The 15th-century poet Matsuo Basho is still considered Japan’s greatest master of the haiku poem, a short, 17-syllable verse form that relates some aspect of nature to the human experience. Although he was one of the most celebrated men of his day, he pursued a simple life of self-imposed poverty and solitude. In this portrait, Ichijun alluded to Matsuo’s haiku about the transient life: warau beshi naku beshi, waga asagao no, shibomu toki (to smile or to cry when my face in the morning \[glory\] is wilted).

_Text from the Cleveland Museum of Art._

Ichijun painted this in the 1700s. It is now at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

### How it was made

- **Hanging scroll.** A painting mounted on silk with a wooden roller at the foot. It was rolled up for storage and brought out to hang for a season, a guest or an occasion.
- **Ink on paper.** Ink made from soot and animal glue, ground with water on an inkstone. A single brush can give a hair-fine line or a broad wash, and nothing can be corrected.

### [Ichijun](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/ichijun)

Japanese, active 1700s

## Facts

- Type: Painting
- Culture: Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
- Real size: about 11 × 19 in (28 × 47 cm). The 16 × 20 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 17th century
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/743.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/743/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/portrait-of-basho-cma-154262).