The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of May 24, 2022

Basket of Peonies

1810 or 1814

Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾 北斎

(Japanese, 1760-1849)

Japan, Edo Period

(1615-1868)

Color woodblock print; surimono

Sheet: 52.1 x 38.3 cm (20 1/2 x 15 1/16 in.)

Gift of Mrs. Ralph King 1943.5

Location

not on view

Description

A surimono is a privately commissioned print used to announce or commemorate a special event. This picture celebrates an event in the life of the actor Ichikawa Danjuro VII, whose emblem was the peony. According to Japanese tradition, the peony–one of the flowers of the four seasons–is the flower of summer.

Inscriptions

Inscription

Signature: Katsushika Hokusai aratame Taito gasan Printer: Suriko Shinacho

Exhibition history

Later Japanese Art Gallery Rotation (Gallery 113). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 13-November 17, 2004)

Exhibition of the Month: Flowers in Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 6-June 5, 1952).

Exhibition of the Month: Historic Flower Containers. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 31, 1952-March 3, 1953).

Transformations in Japanese Printmaking. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 25-December 16, 1984).

Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 6, 2015-January 5, 2016).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1943.5