Previous image 1 2 / 2 Next image

Kitagawa Tsukimaro

Magnolias and Butterfly

Maker

Kitagawa Tsukimaro (Japanese, active by 1840, d. 1830)
Kitagawa Yukimaro (Japanese, 1797-1856)

Title

Magnolias and Butterfly
Magnolias and butterfly (Mokuren ni cho)

Period

Edo Period

Year

1830s

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

ink and color

Supports

Geography

Place Made: Japan; Place Made: Tokyo

Dimensions

Image: 19.2 x 33.7 cm (7 9/16 x 13 1/4 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Inscription at left and right.
White square label affixed verso, bottom right with an inscription in pencil: [1]/2159

Signature: Cho (butterfly) Yukimaro sha

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

Object Number

34.626

Type

Exhibition History

A Chorus of Chirps, Hums, and Buzzes
Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Japanese Print Gallery
May 24, 2019 – Nov 10, 2019
Painterly Prints in Nineteenth-Century Japan
Jun 01, 2007 – Sep 23, 2007

Label copy

This beautiful composition was executed by a teacher and his pupil. The teacher, Tsukimaro, signs his name here as “Kansetsu,” a name he used later in his life. The pupil, Yukimaro, signs himself just to the left of the butterfly as “Butterfly (cho) Yukimaro.” Although these artists both belonged to the Kitagawa lineage of the famed printmaker Utamaro (1753-1806) and Tsukimaro is described as Utamaro’s best pupil, their subject here differs markedly from the compositions of courtesans and genre subjects for which their master was so well known.

Note how the stalks of the magnolia tree are deftly rendered as if painted with a brush.

Image use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use.

Public Domain This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Kitagawa Tsukimaro (Japanese, active by 1840, d. 1830)
Kitagawa Yukimaro (Japanese, 1797-1856)
Magnolias and Butterfly; Magnolias and butterfly (Mokuren ni cho), 1830s
Polychrome woodblock print
Image: 19.2 x 33.7 cm (7 9/16 x 13 1/4 inches)
Gift of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. 34.626

To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.