Still Life: Double Cherry-Blossom Branch, Telescope, Sweet Fish, and Tissue Case

Katsushika Hokusai Japanese

Not on view

The two poems in the upper part of the print were composed by Asakusa-an (1755–1821) and his contemporary Teika-an on the theme of cherry blossoms. In this pleasing composition, the motifs are limited to double cherry blossoms, a telescope, a pair of sweet fish, and a tissue case. The combination of such objects in a pictorial image is mysteriously suggestive.

Hokusai's signature reads Gakyōjin Hokusai ga ("painted by the madman of painting, Hokusai").

Still Life: Double Cherry-Blossom Branch, Telescope, Sweet Fish, and Tissue Case, Katsushika Hokusai (Japanese, Tokyo (Edo) 1760–1849 Tokyo (Edo)), Woodblock print (surimono); ink and color on paper, Japan

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