The Floating World
Chrysanthemums and Horsefly
Katsushika Hokusai · c. 1833–34
What it is
A dense bank of chrysanthemums fills the sheet edge to edge, and one horsefly hangs above the blossoms on blurred wings.
Why it matters
Chrysanthemums are the flower of emperors and poets; Hokusai gives their audience to a fly. The grandeur and the joke share one sheet.
What to notice
The fly's wings are cut as near-transparency — the sheet's least noble creature given its finest carving.
"The flower does not choose its visitor."
The record
- Artist
- Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾北斎 (1760–1849)
- Date
- c. 1833–34
- Medium
- woodblock print; ink and color on paper
- Source
- The Art Institute of Chicago · 1925.3373
Impression note. Printings vary in the layering of the blossoms' tones and the strength of the ground color; a fine impression separates petal from petal in the densest passages. Impression variance is real — printings differ in wiping and fading — and choosing the finest openly held impression is the curatorial act.
Public domain; faithfully reproduced.
Bring it home
Printed to order on EMA matte art paper, 200gsm.
More Katsushika Hokusai
Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei)Under the Wave off Kanagawa (The Great Wave)Katsushika Hokusai · c. 1830–32
Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei)Fine Wind, Clear Morning (Red Fuji)Katsushika Hokusai · c. 1830–32
Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei)Thunderstorm Beneath the SummitKatsushika Hokusai · c. 1830–32
Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei)Kajikazawa in Kai ProvinceKatsushika Hokusai · c. 1830–32The road at your moment — Painted Earth’s ukiyo-e style pack.