Yōrō Waterfall in Mino Province (Mino no Yōrō no taki)
Artist/Culture
Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾 北斎
(Japanese, 1760–1849)
Dateabout 1833
Mediumwoodblock print; ink and color on paper
DimensionsVertical ōban: 37.5 x 25.4 cm (14 3/4 x 10 in.)
ClassificationsPrints
MarkingsPublisher’s seal: Eijudo; censor's seal: kiwame
Credit LineJohn Chandler Bancroft Collection
Object number1901.739
Label TextFrom a set of eight, this print depicts the magnificent Yoro waterfall, whose crystalline waters were believed to have healing and anti-aging properties. Although Yoro’s proportions were clearly truncated for the sake of compositional unity (it is almost 100 feet tall in real life), Hokusai still managed to communicate its kinetic energy through his liberal use of imported Prussian blue pigment and the falls’ rigid verticality. His portrayal of the site arguably endeavors to imbue it with a quiet spiritual reverence; silvery mists obscure the landscape between the lush green cliffs at the top of the waterfall and the rocky protrusions where pilgrims are sheltering at the bottom, conveying the sense that Yoro literally connects the worldly and the sublime.
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Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾 北斎
about 1833
Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾 北斎
about 1833
Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾 北斎
about 1833
Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾 北斎
about 1833
Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾 北斎
about 1833
Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾 北斎
about 1833
Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾 北斎
about 1833–34
