A Man Shooting with a Blowpipe, illustration for the Conch Shell (Horagai), from the series "A Matching Game with Genroku-period Poem Shells (Genroku kasen kai awase)"
Medium
Color woodblock print; shikishiban, surimono
Dimensions
19.3 × 17.1 cm (7 5/8 × 6 3/4 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
104484
Art Historical Context
Katsushika Hokus, the legendary Japanese artist renowned for his ukiyo-e woodblock prints like *The Great Wave off Kanag*, created this captivating illustration in 1821. Titled *A Man Shooting with apipe, illustration for the Conch (Horagai)*, it belongs to the series *A Matching Game withroku-period Poem ShellsGenroku kasen kaiase)*. This playful series draws from the traditional Japanese shell-matching game *kai awase*, where pairs of seashells inscribed with linked waka poems from the Genroku era (1688–1704) are matched. Hokusai's design evokes the elegance of that literary golden age, blen...
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...