Item Info
Source: Print and Picture Collection
Notes:
"Perhaps more successful within such severe limitations is the chuban 'Small Flowers" series of about 1834, of which ten designs are known. Here, the emphasis is reversed and the wild birds of each design are given a more central position in the composition. With his smaller'flower-prints' Hokusai was less strictly bound by tradtition and public taste. ... Thus the artist vented his powers on the creation of bold patterns and compelling compositions, treated from and objective rather than subjective point of view; and - considering the limitations of the genre - he succeeded very well."
from "Hokusai: Life and Work" by Richard Lane. New York. E.P. Dutton, 1989. p,222
Notes:
"The series of Large Flowers ... is striking for the realism it contains, but also for the unusual close-ups Hokusai presents. In this series an opposition is established between the flowers and leaves, which are often shown moving in the wind, and the insects that, also affected by the wind, are rendered more as still-life objects. Although today the Large Flowers is appreciated for its realism, it was apparently not a very popular series. It survives only in small numbers and hardly any printing variations can be detected, from which it may be inferred that the series was rarely, if ever, reprinted. The same goes for the series of ten designs popularly known as the Small Flowers, probably published in 1833 ... A facsimile reproduction of this latter series was made in the second half of the nineteenth century from newly cut blocks; it lacks the publisher's seal."
from "Hokusai: Prints and Drawing", by Matthi Forrer. New York. Rizzoli, 1988. p.26
Bibliography:
Hokusai: Life and Work by Richard Lane
https://catalog.freelibrary.org/Record/456316
Hokusai: Prints and Drawings by Matthi Forrer
https://catalog.freelibrary.org/Record/829299
Creation Year: ca. 1833
Image Dimensions Width: 25.9 cm
Creator Name: Hokusai, Katsushika, 1760-1849 - Artist