Poem by Minamoto no Muneyuki Ason, from the series One Hundred Poems Explained by the Nurse (Hyakunin isshu uba ga etoki)
This print is from Hokusai's last important print series, left incomplete at his death. One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets is a famous anthology of classical waka poems.
On a label at the upper right corner, a poem by Minamoto Muneyuki
(d. 939) is inscribed:
In a mountain hamlet winter's
loneliness grows deeper.
Both people and grasses are
withered—so runs my thoughts.
In contrast to the waka poem, which concentrates on the loneliness of winter in the mountains, Hokusai's hunters, clustered around a big fire in the snow, have a mad animation characteristic of kyōka, the playful verse more popular in the late Edo period than waka.
On a label at the upper right corner, a poem by Minamoto Muneyuki
(d. 939) is inscribed:
In a mountain hamlet winter's
loneliness grows deeper.
Both people and grasses are
withered—so runs my thoughts.
In contrast to the waka poem, which concentrates on the loneliness of winter in the mountains, Hokusai's hunters, clustered around a big fire in the snow, have a mad animation characteristic of kyōka, the playful verse more popular in the late Edo period than waka.
Artwork Details
- 百人一首 うはかゑとき 源宗于朝臣
- Title: Poem by Minamoto no Muneyuki Ason, from the series One Hundred Poems Explained by the Nurse (Hyakunin isshu uba ga etoki)
- Artist: Katsushika Hokusai (Japanese, Tokyo (Edo) 1760–1849 Tokyo (Edo))
- Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
- Date: ca. 1835
- Culture: Japan
- Medium: Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
- Dimensions: Overall: 9 7/8 x 14 1/2 in. (25.1 x 36.8 cm)
- Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: The Howard Mansfield Collection, Purchase, Rogers Fund, 1936
- Object Number: JP2552
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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