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Katsushika Hokusai

Canary and Herbaceous Peony (Shakuyaku kanaari), ca. 1834

Description

Maker

Title

Canary and Herbaceous Peony (Shakuyaku kanaari)

Year

ca. 1834

Medium

Polychrome wood block print

Materials/Techniques

Materials

Techniques

Supports

Dimensions

Image: 24.9 x 17.3 cm (9 13/16 x 6 13/16 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Inscription verso, bottom right: X3780/[Japanese Characters][text and poem] title inscribed u. right shakuyaku kanaari the Chinese poem to the left reads: The peony comes from Yangzhou and is the champion of fragrant flowers in late spring Poem by Wang ShipengThe characters for "one-thousand petals" signify the peony.The place mentioned is Yang Chou, a town in the middle of Kiangsu Province, north of the Yangtze River, China.

Place

Japan; Tokyo

Type

Credit

Gift of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

Object Number

34.500

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Works in Process

July 31, 2021 - January 23, 2022

This rare pairing of a printer’s proof with a finished print offers a glimpse into the collaborative nature of the woodblock printing process. Upon receiving a design sketch from the artist—in this case Hokusai—the carver would paste it onto a woodblock and cut into it. As a result, few original sketches survive today. A monochrome proof like this one was printed from the carved block and returned to the artist for instructions and edits. The annotations on this proof’s right side, which specify color preference, were added to advance the process.

Given the compositional differences between these two works, it is unclear whether the print eventually evolved from this specific proof. Nevertheless, the record of the collaborative interaction between artist, carver, and printer remains noteworthy. [see also 34.484].

Process and Function

January 19 - May 27, 2007

This is a later impression of a print from Hokusai's "Small Flowers" series.

Related

More objects +

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Canary and Herbaceous Peony (Shakuyaku kanaari) with the accession number of 34.500. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.