Pheasant and pine tree
c. 1847/52
Medium
Color woodblock print; koban
Dimensions
22 × 15.7 cm (8 5/8 × 6 1/8 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
31642
Art Historical Context
Utagawa Hiroshige's *Pheasant and Pine* (c. 1847/52) is a captivating example of late Edo-period ukiyo, the Japanese art of woodblock prints depicting the "floating world" of everyday beauty. This intimate koban-format print—measuring just 22 × 15.7 cm—showcases a majestic pheasant amid a sturdy pine tree, rendered in vibrant colors through the meticulous woodblock process. Hiroshige, a master of the genre famed for his poetic landscapes like *The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō*, here turns his eye to nature's elegance, capturing the bird's iridescent feathers and the pine's resilient bra...
About the Artist
Utagawa Hiroshige · 1826–1869
Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858), born Andō Tokutarō, was the last great master of Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock printmaking and one of the most influential landscape artists in history. Born in Edo (modern Tokyo) into a low-ranking samurai family serving as fire wardens, Hiroshige transformed landscape printmaking into a poetic meditation on nature, weather, and everyday life. His revolutionary approac...