Tama River in Musashi Province (Bushu Tamagawa), from the series "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjurokkei)"

Tama River in Musashi Province (Bushu Tamagawa), from the series "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjurokkei)"

Katsushika Hokusai

Details

Dimensions
26.2 × 37.5 cm (10 1/4 × 14 3/4 in.)
Origin
Japan
Department
Arts of Asia
Holding institution
Art Institute of Chicago
Image provider
art-institute-chicago
License
CC0-1.0
Credit
Clarence Buckingham Collection

Art Genome Taxonomy

12 tags

Subject Matter

  • The title identifies the Tama River and Mount Fuji, while the image visibly presents a river, shoreline, distant mountain, and expansive sky.

  • Water Visual · 99%

    Water occupies most of the middle and lower composition and is described by extensive repeated wave lines.

  • Modes of Transportation Visual · 98%

    A boat is clearly shown on the river, and a person leads a loaded animal along the foreground bank.

  • Text Visual · 99%

    Japanese characters appear in a vertical cartouche and in adjacent calligraphic writing at the upper left.

Styles and Movements

  • Ukiyo-e Interpretive · 90%

    The work is a Japanese color woodblock print by Hokusai from the early nineteenth century and from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji; ukiyo-e is a strong contextual classification, though it is not explicitly stated in the supplied museum record.

Visual Qualities

  • Color Gradient Visual · 97%

    The sky shifts visibly from deep blue at the top through pale blue to a light warm band near the horizon.

  • Linear Forms Visual · 97%

    Repeated curling lines articulate the water, while contour lines define the mountain, shoreline, and trees.

Medium and Techniques

  • Woodcut and Linocut Metadata · 99%

    The museum identifies the work as a color woodblock print in oban format.

  • Strong spatial recession extends from the foreground bank and trees through the boat and far shore to distant Mount Fuji.

Time Periods

  • 19th Century Art Metadata · 99%

    The museum dates the print to approximately 1830/33, within the nineteenth century.

Geographic Regions

  • Japanese Art Both · 99%

    The museum records Japan as the place of origin and identifies the artist as Katsushika Hokusai, a Japanese artist.

Materials

  • Use of Paper Both · 94%

    The museum identifies a printed sheet, and the image visibly shows a paper-like print support; the specific paper stock is not supplied.

Source & rights

Katsushika Hokusai. Tama River in Musashi Province (Bushu Tamagawa), from the series "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjurokkei)". The Art Institute of Chicago.