The Festive Custom of Asahina Continued by Jihinari for Twenty-three years (Nijusan-nen tsuzuki Jihinari kichirei Asahina)
1820
Medium
Color woodblock print; horizontal nagaban, surimono
Dimensions
19.3 × 53.9 cm (7 9/16 × 21 3/16 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
81406
Art Historical Context
In the vibrant world of Edo-period Japan, Utagawa Toyohiro's *The Festive Custom of Asahina Continued by Jari for Twenty-three Years (1820) captures a lively tradition through the exquisite medium of a color woodblock print. Toyohiro (1773–1825), a master of the Utagawa school and influential teacher to Hiroshige, crafted this horizontal *nagaban* surimono—a luxurious, privately commissioned format often produced for poetry societies or New Year's celebrations. Measuring an elongated 19.3 × 53.9 cm, its panoramic scope invites viewers into a festive scene, highlighting the enduring custom link...
About the Artist
Utagawa Toyohiro · 1763–1828
Utagawa Toyohiro (1763–1828) was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist and painter who founded a major branch of the Utagawa school and is best remembered as the teacher of Utagawa Hiroshige, one of the greatest landscape print designers in Japanese art history. Born in Edo (present-day Tokyo), he studied under Utagawa Toyoharu, the founder of the Utagawa school, who was noted for introducing Western perspect...