Ushibori in Hitachi Province, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji

Artist: Katsushika Hokusai (Japanese, 1760–1849)

ca. 1831

Asian Art

By appointment, Duffy Study Room

In this woodblock print, the use of varied shades of indigo (ai), as well as clean, sharp lines, creates a serene atmosphere. The stillness of the scene is broken by the sound of a bucket of water being poured into the marsh, which sends two egrets into flight. Katsushika Hokusai freezes this moment of transition in his image. The artist’s excellent use of bokashi, or color gradation, can be seen in the background, where Mount Fuji rises above the reeds into a deep blue sky that fades to white at the top.

Medium

Ukiyo-e: polychrome woodblock print, blue key block

Dimensions

sheet: 10 1/4 × 15 3/16 in. (26 × 38.6 cm)

Credit Line

University Purchase

Accession Number

1949.110

Geography

Japan

Culture

Japanese

Period

Edo period (1615–1868)

Classification

Prints

Disclaimer

Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Provenance
Louis Vernon Ledoux (1880–1948) Collection, New York to 1948; purchased in 1949 by Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn.
Bibliography
  • Elise K. Kenney, ed., Handbook of the Collections: Yale University Art Gallery (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 1992), 308, ill.
  • George J. Lee, Selected Far Eastern Art in the Yale University Art Gallery (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1970), 250, no. 464, ill.
  • Louis Vernon Ledoux, Japanese Prints, Hokusai and Hiroshige, in the Collection of Louis V. Ledoux (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1951), no. 18
Object copyright
No Copyright - United States
Additional information

Object/Work type

color woodcuts

Marks

Censor's seal mark: Kiwame 極 (round, relief, lower right); publisher's seal mark: Eiju-dō 永寿堂 (square, relief, lower right)

Inscriptions

Fugaku Sanjūrokkei: Jōshū Ushibori 富嶽三十六景 常州牛堀 (cartouche, top left)

Signed

Saki no Hokusai Iitsu hitsu (brushed by Iitsu, formerly Hokusai) 前北斎為一筆 (upper left)


Technical metadata and APIs

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