Wagtail and Wisteria

Object Details

• Artist

  Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾北斎 (1760-1849)

• Label

  Hokusai designed kacho (flower-and-bird) prints of extraordinary quality. His prints often display exceptional finesse in their block engraving and printing that reflects the technical improvements stimulated by the production of privately commissioned surimono in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. This print, an unusually beautiful impression of an elegant design, comes from a set from which six other designs are known. The wisteria hangs downward with subtly varied color, while the wagtail's tail points upward, framing a Chinese poem by Qian Qi (circa 722-780):

  Stretching creepers emerge from cloudy trees,

  Their dangling ropes cover the nesting crane.

  (Translation of poem by Stephen D. Allee)

• Collection

  National Museum of Asian Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Hokusai (October 25, 2005 to May 14, 2006)

  Masterful Illusions: Japanese Prints from the Anne van Biema Collection (September 15, 2002 to January 9, 2003)

• Origin

  Japan

• Credit Line

  The Anne van Biema Collection

• Type

  Print

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

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• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1700s, 1710s, 1720s, 1770s, 1780s, 1790s, 1730s, 1740s, 1750s, 1760s, 1800s, 1810s, 1820s, 1830s, 1610s, 1650s, 1640s, 1630s, 1620s, 1690s, 1840s, 1680s, 1850s, 1670s, 1860s, 1660s

• Name

  Katsushika, Hokusai

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Art, Animals, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Japanese Art, Anne van Biema collection, Birds, Ukiyo-e, Chuban, Wisteria

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Prints