Art Institute of Chicago

Zodiac Surimono

Indai

Date

1866

Medium

Color woodblock print; surimono

Culture

Japan

Department

Arts of Asia

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

Surimono prints were often exchanged at New Year’s, and it was common for such prints to refer to the zodiac animal of the year. Sometimes these animals were prominently depicted (as in Portrait of a Rabbit ), but often they were cleverly disguised (as in Rabbit and Fish ). In this print, Indai depicted the 12 animals of the zodiac in a brass-dust pigment, giving them the appearance of gold silhouettes against a paper background. The animals are placed in chronological order, with the tiger (the animal of the year 1866) placed first in line, to the extreme right. Indai ran a painting workshop and was likely an urban-professional painter. Painters were often hired by print publishers who needed a design for the many prints that were commissioned by poetry clubs during this period. The host of this poetry group, Soshu, was also an artist and created Egoyomi with Rabbits the following year.

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