Hotspur🏳️🌈🇺🇦"Portrait of a Rabbit," Yabu Chosui, 1867.
I am unable to find any information about Yabu Chosui other than their dates (1814 to c.1870) and several other works, which annoys me.
This is a surimono print, a genre of Japanese printmaking that was generally in small runs and commissioned for a special occasion, like the New Year, which is believed to be the inspiration for this print, assumed to have been made in honor of the Year of the Rabbit.
Surimono prints were commissioned and collected by the educated literati, and as such could be more experimental and extravagant than the usual commercial prints. This is a bit surreal, in giving us a huge rabbit...but the body resembles the bag of Hotei, the god of prosperity, which often figured in New Year's art, and also possibly is meant to resemble the moon, where an immortal rabbit lives, according to Japanese mythology. It's also possibly meant to reflect a common New Year's symbol, the rising sun, as we have the rabbit against a pink field like a morning sky.
Surimono prints were also commissioned by poetry societies to honor a prizewinning poem, and by kabuki actors, to commemorate significant moments in their careers.
Happy Portrait Monday!
From the Art Institute of Chicago.
#Art #YabuChosui #Surimono #JapaneseArt #AsianArt #PortraitMonday
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