A Peasant Crossing a Bridge, from the series A True Mirror of Chinese and Japanese Poems
late 1830s
Medium
Color woodblock print; nagaban
Dimensions
50 × 23.2 cm (19 11/16 × 9 3/16 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
57271
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
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 chal...
About the Artist
Katsushika Hokusai · 1760–1849
Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) stands as one of history's most influential artists, a Japanese master who revolutionized the ukiyo-e woodblock print tradition and profoundly shaped Western art. Born in the Katsushika district of Edo (modern-day Tokyo) to an artisan family, Hokusai lived through nearly nine decades of extraordinary creative evolution, adopting over thirty different artistic names t...