Octopus and Shell
about 1820s
Medium
Color woodblock print; shikishiban, surimono
Dimensions
20.5 × 17.7 cm (8 1/8 × 7 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
81416
Art Historical Context
Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797–1861), a leading figure in Japan's ukiyo-e tradition—"pictures of the floating world"— *Octopus and Shell* the 1820s. This intimate color woodblock print in the shikishiban format (a square shape measuring 20.5 × 17.7 cm) is a surimono, a luxurious privately commissioned work often produced for New Year's greetings or poetry gatherings. Unlike mass-market prints, surimono featured exquisite craftsmanship, including subtle embossing, mica flecking, and vibrant pigments, making them prized collector's items among Edo-period elites. Kuniyoshi's imaginative style shines he...
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...