A Difficult Crossing

Artist/Culture Suzuki Harunobu 鈴木春信 (Japanese, about 1725–1770)

Dateabout 1770

MediumWoodblock print, ink and color on paper; nishiki-e; hashira-e

Dimensions69.2 x 11.4 cm (27 1/4 x 4 1/2 in.)

ClassificationsPrints

Credit LineJohn Chandler Bancroft Collection

Terms

Object number1901.1186

Label TextSuzuki Harunobu (d. 1770) A Difficult Crossing About 1770 Artist's signature: Harunobu ga (drawn by Harunobu) Woodblock print, ink and color on paper; nishiki-e; hashira-e John Chandler Bancroft Collection, 1901.1186 Next to his admirer and follower Isoda Koryusai (1735-90), Harunobu was the most prolific designer of pillar prints: he created more than one hundred and thirty highly inventive designs during the last three years of his life. The young woman in this print crosses a bridge over a fast-moving stream during an early spring snowstorm. Dressed in a cherry-blossom-patterned kimono and high geta, she raises her right arm and long fluttering sleeve to shield her head against the cold wind and falling snow. The included tanka, which inspired the print, was composed by the influential aristocrat-ProvenanceJohn Chandler Bancroft, Boston, MA

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