Making a Giant Snowball
c. 1767
Medium
Color woodblock print; chuban
Dimensions
27.7 × 20.7 cm (10 7/8 × 8 1/8 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
89001
Art Historical Context
Suzuki Harunobu's *Making a Giant Snowball* (c. 1767) is a delightful color woodblock print from Japan's Edo period, capturing a whimsical winter scene in the chuban format—a compact size ideal for affordable, intimate viewing. Measuring 27.7 × 20.7 cm, this print exemplifies Harunobu's mastery of ukiyo-e, the "pictures of the floating world" genre that celebrated everyday pleasures amid urban life in 18th-century Japan. Harunobu (1725–1770) revolutionized printmaking around 1765 by pioneering nishiki-e, or brocade pictures—full-color woodblocks using multiple blocks inked in vibrant hues for...
About the Artist
Suzuki Harunobu · 1725–1770
Suzuki Harunobu (c. 1725-1770) was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist who revolutionized woodblock printing by developing nishiki-e—full-color prints using multiple woodblocks—in 1765. Before Harunobu, Japanese prints were limited to two or three colors; his innovation unleashed the entire artist's palette, transforming ukiyo-e into the vibrant art form that would later captivate Western artists from Manet...