Operating on Guan Yu's Arm1840s · Study 1998.178

Context from the museum

Ukiyo-e artists’ subject matter extended to popular literature. Katsushika Ōi used color to great effect in her gruesome version of an episode from a 14th-century Chinese novel, Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Ōi portrayed the passage in which legendary 3rd-century military leader Guan Yu undergoes a bone scraping to remove poisons received from an arrow wound. In this sensationalist portrayal, Guan Yu’s attendants cower at the sight of his bloody arm while he remains unflinchingly focused on his game. As a woman, Ōi was an outlier in her era, but her talent was allowed to shine due to collaboration with her father, Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849), the famed designer of the print known as The Great Wave .

Museum description reproduced from its CC0 open-access record. Read the original catalog entry.

A detail to notice

This is the largest surviving painting by the artist.

Observation supplied by the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Read the dimensions before the image

The selected painting measurement for Operating on Guan Yu's Arm is 68.3 cm wide and 140.2 cm high, equivalent to approximately 26.9 × 55.2 inches. Dividing width by height gives a format ratio of 0.49:1. The rectangular bounding area is 0.96 square meters; it describes the measured footprint, not the amount of paint or the monetary value.

On an illustrative 300 cm wall, the recorded width occupies 22.8% of the span before adding a frame. A centered placement leaves approximately 115.8 cm on each side before adding a frame. These are calculations by Physical Art For Crypto using museum measurements. They are not the museum’s display recommendations.

Questions to bring to your own collection

With Operating on Guan Yu's Arm in view, identify one feature you can point to, then distinguish what the museum records from your personal response. Keep its medium, hanging scroll; ink, color, and gold on silk, in your notes when comparing contemporary works.

• Which part of this vertical composition catches your eye first?
• Would a 68.3 cm width still suit the space after allowing for furniture and a frame?
• What surface detail would you need to see in person or in a close photograph?