Minneapolis Institute of Art

Kingfisher and Viburnum

Utagawa Hiroshige; Publisher: Kawaguchiya Shōzō

Date

early 1840s

Medium

Woodblock print (nishiki-e), ink and color on paper

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Hiroshige created several prints featuring a kingfisher amid irises. Here, however, he paired the bird with hydrangeas, a flowering bush that blossoms in July and is associated with Japan's rainy season. While the Chinese have traditionally admired the kingfisher for its bright blue plummage, in Japan it is often used to symbolize vanity. Hiroshige suggests as much in the accompanying poem: The kingfisher preening his feathers in a watery mirror. Asia

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