Ito Shinsui
Japanese, 1898-1972
Passing Rain
INV-3279
Ito Shinsui
Japanese, 1898-1972May 1917
Passing Rain
Ito Shinsui Japanese, 1898-1972 →Japanese (culture or style)woodblock printprint
Date
May 1917
Medium
Color woodblock print; oban
Dimensions
44.3 × 30.5 cm (17 1/2 × 12 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Clarence Buckingham Collection
White streaks of rain energize this composition as they cut across the deep colors of the subject’s kimono and hair. One of Itô Shinsui’s earliest prints depicting women, this work was made in two versions: one featuring a blue umbrella and one (seen here) in which it is brown. At this point in his career, Shinsui not only supplied designs but was also deeply involved in the printing process and color choices—an unusual level of input for a commercial print artist.
Also notable
Works in the same vein
Komurasaki of the Miuraya and Shirai Gompachi (Miuraya Komurasaki, Shirai Gompachi)
Kitagawa Utamaro 喜多川 歌麿 Japanese, c.1753-1806
Hamamatsu, from the series "Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi)," also known as the Tokaido with Poem (Kyoka iri Tokaido)
Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川 広重 Japanese, 1797-1858
Mitsuke: Ferries Crossing the Tenryu River (Mitsuke, Tenryugawa funawatashi), from the series "Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi)," also known as the Tokaido with Poem (Kyoka iri Tokaido)
Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川 広重 Japanese, 1797-1858
