Woman and Small Boy
In this print the artist employs seasonal clues to suggest the summer setting. Mother and child are engaged in a leisure summertime activity, a luxury they can enjoy as members of the merchant class (chōnin). The child points to a cicada (a summer insect) on a tree branch, and his mother shows interest in her son's discovery. Each holds an accessory common in summer: he a parasol, she a fan.
Shunchō often used the format of hashira-e, or pillar print—a narrow, vertical composition. Here, following the Japanese convention in which images are cropped to conform to the print's dimensions, he truncated the parasol, the mother's left arm, and part of her hair. With particular skill he rendered just enough of the tree to let the viewer know where the child's attention is focused.
Shunchō often used the format of hashira-e, or pillar print—a narrow, vertical composition. Here, following the Japanese convention in which images are cropped to conform to the print's dimensions, he truncated the parasol, the mother's left arm, and part of her hair. With particular skill he rendered just enough of the tree to let the viewer know where the child's attention is focused.
Artwork Details
- Title: Woman and Small Boy
- Artist: Katsukawa Shunchō (Japanese, active ca. 1783–95)
- Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
- Culture: Japan
- Medium: Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
- Dimensions: 25 3/8 × 4 1/2 in. (64.5 × 11.4 cm)
- Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929
- Object Number: JP1768
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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Katsukawa Shunchō
ca. 1790
Katsukawa Shunchō
1780–1795
Katsukawa Shunchō
ca. 1785
Katsukawa Shunchō
1780–1795
Katsukawa Shunchō
18th century
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