Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾 北斎
Japanese, 1760-1849
A Peasant Crossing a Bridge, from the series A True Mirror of Chinese and Japanese Poems
INV-5727
Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾 北斎
Japanese, 1760-1849late 1830s
A Peasant Crossing a Bridge, from the series A True Mirror of Chinese and Japanese Poems
Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾 北斎 Japanese, 1760-1849 →Japanese (culture or style)woodblock printprint
Date
late 1830s
Medium
Color woodblock print; nagaban
Dimensions
50 × 23.2 cm (19 11/16 × 9 3/16 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel M. Nickerson
An old peasant returns from gathering the two bundles of horsetail rushes, which hang from a pole across his shoulder. Of the various poems about gathering rushes in the old anthologies, it is thought that Hokusai had in mind this poem from a 1303 collection:
When I was cutting horsetails
The autumn moon appeared
Shining through the trees
On Mount Sonahara.
(Translated by Matthi Forrer)
In this series of ten prints, the relevant poem was not included in the design. Instead, the artist challenged the Edo audience’s love of puzzles. Viewers enjoyed determining the source of a poem and its author.
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
