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A Fishing Excursion
A Fishing Excursion
Public domain: Image courtesy of the Worcester Art Museum.

A Fishing Excursion

Artist (Japanese, early 1750s–1806)
Dateabout 1798
Mediumwoodblock print
Dimensions31.8 x 67.3 cm (12 1/2 x 26 1/2 in.)
ClassificationsPrints
Credit LineJohn Chandler Bancroft Collection
Object number1901.122
Label TextFishing was a popular pastime for youth in Edo period Japan. Here, Utamaro I conveys a sense of riotous fun through each figure’s body language and the disruption of the water around the boats. Although the artist clearly applies standardized archetypes of beauty, the figures have their own individualized presence, and are engaged in a variety of activities ranging from casting lines, to prodding the water with hamachi rods, to peering into depths of the river. Details such as the fish still on the hook, the disheveled robes, and the woman covering her mouth with the back of her hand while she laughs, give the viewer the impression that Utamaro I was capturing a single, real moment in time.
On View
Not on view
Fishing Boats with Nets on the Sumida River
Kitagawa Utamaro I 喜多川 歌麿
about 1790
The Hour of the Hare
Kitagawa Utamaro I 喜多川 歌麿
about 1796
Photographed September 2009
Kitagawa Utamaro I 喜多川 歌麿
12th month Bunka 2, 1806
Photographed September 2009
Kitagawa Utamaro I 喜多川 歌麿
1770-1806
Celebrating Ebisuko
Kitagawa Utamaro I 喜多川 歌麿
about 1780s
Photographed May, 2010
Kitagawa Utamaro I 喜多川 歌麿
Ki-no-to ushi saitan, Jan 31, 1805
Photographed September 2009
Kitagawa Utamaro I 喜多川 歌麿
about 1798
Photographed September 2009
Kitagawa Utamaro I 喜多川 歌麿
about 1798
Photographed September 2009
Kitagawa Utamaro I 喜多川 歌麿
about 1798
Photographed September 2009
Kitagawa Utamaro I 喜多川 歌麿
about 1794
Procession of Women and Children
Kitagawa Utamaro I 喜多川 歌麿
about 1795
Celebrating Ebisuko (Scene at a Tea-House)
Kitagawa Utamaro I 喜多川 歌麿
1780s