No. 2: Chinese boys copying paintings and writing Japanese, from the series "Children Say 'This is Japan!' and Imitate the Games They See in Picturebooks (Yodo iu koitsu wa Nippon, ezoshi o mite yori sono gai ni asobu)"
c. 1791
Medium
Color woodblock print; chuban
Dimensions
25.1 × 18.7 cm (9 15/16 × 7 3/8 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
21263
Art Historical Context
This charming color woodblock by Torii Kiyonaga, dating to around 1791, a lively moment of childhood in late-Edo. Kiyonaga was a leading ukiyo-e artist for his elegant, elongated figures and harmonious compositions that everyday scenes to life with refined grace. Part of series *Children Say “This is Japan!” andmitate the Games They in Picturebooks*, thisuban-format work (a popular medium-sized print) uses multiple carved blocks to layer vibrant colors, a technique that made such images widely affordable and influential. The scene titled “Chinese boys copying paintings and writing Japanese” s...
About the Artist
Torii Kiyonaga · 1752–1815
Torii Kiyonaga, born Sekiguchi Shinsuke in 1752 in Uraga, Sagami Province, was the son of an Edo bookseller who owned tenements near a bustling fish market. At age 14 in 1765, he began his apprenticeship under Torii Kiyomitsu, the third-generation head of the prestigious Torii school of ukiyo-e, renowned for kabuki theater illustrations and signage. Adopted into the Torii family, Kiyonaga succeede...