Fuji from Mihonoura (fan)

Utagawa Hiroshige

Brooklyn Museum photograph

Caption

Utagawa Hiroshige Japanese, 1797–1858. Fuji from Mihonoura (fan), ca. 1843–1847. Woodblock color print, 8 13/16 x 11 7/16 in. (22.4 x 29.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Louis V. Ledoux, 46.71.2. No known copyright restrictions (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 46.71.2_bw_IMLS.jpg)

Gallery

Not on view

Collection

Asian Art

Title

Fuji from Mihonoura (fan)

Date

ca. 1843–1847

Period

Edo Period

Geography

Place made: Japan

Medium

Woodblock color print

Classification

Print

Dimensions

8 13/16 x 11 7/16 in. (22.4 x 29.1 cm)

Signatures

Hiroshige

Credit Line

Gift of Louis V. Ledoux

Accession Number

46.71.2

Rights

No known copyright restrictions

This work may be in the public domain in the United States. Works created by United States and non-United States nationals published prior to 1923 are in the public domain, subject to the terms of any applicable treaty or agreement. You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this work. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). The Museum does not warrant that the use of this work will not infringe on the rights of third parties, such as artists or artists' heirs holding the rights to the work. It is your responsibility to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions before copying, transmitting, or making other use of protected items beyond that allowed by "fair use," as such term is understood under the United States Copyright Act. The Brooklyn Museum makes no representations or warranties with respect to the application or terms of any international agreement governing copyright protection in the United States for works created by foreign nationals. For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.

Frequent Art Questions

  • So the red stamps on the prints are ownership marks?

    Typically the marks in red are the artist's seal. Publisher and censor marks would also appear on prints, but tend not to be red.
  • Why is there a cut out? My guess is it's a fan.

    You are correct! This print was intended intended to be glued to a fan. Fan prints are among the rarest to survive into modern times, because they were cut from their page and glued to fans. Fans, in general, were not saved as they were part of the ephemeral fashion world of Edo period Japan.
  • Are those boats? Does Mt. Fuji touch a large body of water or is that just the foreground element?

    Those are indeed boats. Mt. Fuji is more inland in reality. The body of water here is either Suruga Bay, to the south of the mountain or one of the 5 lakes at the base of Mt. Fuji, the largest of which is Kawaguchiko. Suruga Bay was, and remains, a renowned spot for viewing Mt. Fuji, though this print shows a bit more of an imagined view.
  • Why is it shaped like this.

    This print was actually designed to be cut out and turned into a trendy fan. Artists, like Hiroshige, would produce new images as the seasons changed.
    Fashionable people were sure to get the new designs every summer, effectively making the fans disposable. It's remarkable that any have survived to be in museum collections today!

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