Art Institute of Chicago

Sparrows and Camellia in Snow

Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川 広重

Date

c. 1831-33

Medium

Color woodblock print; ōtanzaku

Culture

Japan

Department

Arts of Asia

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

Of the two versions of this design in the Art Institute's collection, this image is accepted as the earlier printing of this famous design. The poetry appearing on both impressions has been identified by the scholar Suzuki Juzo as the first two lines of an unsigned Chinese poem entitled “Inquiry of a Stork” by Hakurakuten (772–846). It reads: Crows and storks fight over something to eat and sparrows over where to sleep, You stand there all alone by the pond, the wind blows and snow piles up.

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