The Big Snowman
c. 1764
Medium
Color woodblock print; mizu-e hosoban
Dimensions
31.7 × 14.5 cm (12 7/16 × 5 11/16 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
7578
Art Historical Context
Kitao Shigemasa's *The Big Snowman* (c. 1764) captures the whimsical spirit of winter in Edo-period Japan through a delicate color woodblock print. Shigemasa, a prominent ukiyo-e artist for his illustrations of daily life, theater, and beauties, created this charming *mizu-e hosoban*—a narrow, vertical format (31.7 × 14.5 cm) ideal for affordable single-sheet prints popular among urban commoners. Produced during the vibrant Genroku era, when ukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating world") flourished in Edo (modern Tokyo), the work reflects the era's fascination with seasonal pleasures and fleeting ...
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...