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Night Rain at Karasaki, from the series Eight Views of Ōmi

Artist/Maker (Japanese, 1797–1858)
Date1834
MediumColor woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
DimensionsHorizontal ōban; overall: 9 5/8 × 14 1/2 in. (24.4 × 36.9 cm)
Credit LineMary A. Ainsworth Bequest
PortfolioEight Views of Ōmi (Omi hakkei)
Object number1950.1057
Status
Not on view
More Information
An image of a famous giant pine tree on the grounds of the Karasaki Shrine in Otsu. The straight, vertical lines suggesting the downpour of rain are cleverly paralleled by the posts used to support the extended limbs of the pine. The ink gradation technique called bokashi is used masterfully here, seen in the fade from black to grey in the tree, in the dark sky above, and in the water below. The printer had to apply this by hand to each color block. Hiroshige created over twenty versions of this series of eight prints titled Eight Views of Ōmi.
Exhibition History
Forty-eight Japanese Prints from the Mary A. Ainsworth Collection
  • University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN ( 1954-02 - 1954-02 )
  • University of the South, Sewannee, TN ( 1954-03 - 1954-03 )
Japanese Prints from the Ainsworth Collection
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (September 18, 1979 - October 21, 1979 )
Japanese Prints from the Mary A. Ainsworth Collection
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (May 20, 1986 - July 20, 1986 )
Ukiyo-e Prints from the Mary Ainsworth Collection
  • Chiba City Museum of Art, Chiba, Japan (April 13, 2019 - May 25, 2019 )
  • Shizuoka City Museum of Art, Shizuoka, Japan (June 8, 2019 - July 28, 2019 )
  • Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts, Osaka, Japan (August 10, 2019 - September 29, 2019 )
Ukiyo-e Prints from the Mary Ainsworth Collection
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (January 14, 2020 - December 6, 2020 )
Collections
  • Asian