Ono no Tofu Watching a Leaping Frog
early 1760s
Medium
Color woodblock print; hosoban, mizu-e
Dimensions
30.2 × 14.7 cm (11 7/8 × 5 3/4 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
7580
Art Historical Context
In the vibrant world of 18th-century Japanese uyo-e—prints celebrating the "floating world" of everyday pleasures and wit—Kitao Shigemasa's *Ono no Tofu a Leaping Frog*early 1760s) captures a whimsical literary moment. This color woodblock print in the compact hosoban format (30.2 × 14.7 cm) showcases Shigemasa's skill as a master of the genre. Hosoban, a narrow half-sheet size, was ideal for affordable, intimate scenes, while the mizu-e technique used water-based pigments for subtle, hand-applied color before the era's full-spectrum nishiki-e prints. The image depicts the Heian-era poet and ...
About the Artist
Kitao Shigemasa · 1739–1820
Kitao Shigemasa (1739–1820), born in the bustling Nihonbashi district of Edo (modern Tokyo), emerged as a pivotal figure in ukiyo-e woodblock printing during Japan's Edo period. The eldest son of the bookseller Suharaya Mohei—from a lineage of publishers—Shigemasa, originally named Kitabatake Tarōkichi, was immersed in the world of printing from youth. Largely self-taught, he later studied under t...