Guo Ju (Kaku Kyo), from the series "Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety in China (Morokoshi nijushiko)"
c. 1848/50
Medium
Color woodblock print; chuban
Dimensions
25.2 × 17.8 cm (9 15/16 × 7 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
149899
Art Historical Context
In the vibrant world of 19th-century Japanese ukiyo-e prints, Utagawa Kuniyoshi's *Guo Ju (Kaku Kyo)* from the series *Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety in ChinaMorokoshi nijushiko)*, created around 1848–50, captures a timeless Confucian virtue. This color woodblock print in the compact chuban format (25.2 × 17.8 cm) depicts the legendary Chinese figure Guo Ju, renowned for his extraordinary devotion to his mother amid poverty. Kuniyoshi, a master of the ukiyo-e school celebrated for his dynamic warrior scenes and historical narratives, drew from a popular Chinese text compiling 24 model st...
About the Artist
Utagawa Kuniyoshi · 1797–1861
Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797–1861) was born in Edo to the silk-dyer Yanagiya Kichiyemon, originally bearing the childhood name Yoshisaburō. From a young age, he assisted in his family's pattern design work, which sharpened his innate mastery of color and textile motifs that would permeate his later prints. At around twelve years old, his prodigious drawing skills drew the attention of the renowned Utag...