Art Institute of Chicago

Portrait of a Rabbit

Yabu Chosui

Date

1867

Medium

Color woodblock print; surimono

Culture

Japan

Department

Arts of Asia

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

A large rabbit fills the entire surface of this print, indicating that it was created in the year of the rabbit. The curious, sacklike quality of the rabbit’s body is also a reference to the large white bag of Hotei, one of the gods of good fortune, who often appears on New Year visual art. The rabbit’s body is also rounded out to suggest a lopsided moon (the home of the rice-pounding rabbit), which is emphasized by its silvery outline. Finally, there is an allusion to the most common New Year symbol, the rising sun. Although the rising sun is usually represented as a luminous, round body against an orange sky, Yabu Chosui showed it as a rising lopsided rabbit against a flaming pink background.

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