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Print
Yôrô Waterfall in Mino Province
A Tour of Japanese Waterfalls
Katsushika Hokusai, 1760 - 1849
Katsushika Hokusai
Japan
1760 - 1849
Male
Designer
14 11/16 x 9 15/16 in. (37.3 x 25.2 cm)
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Printer's ink
Printer's ink
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Japanese, Ukiyo-e
Print
Legend holds that there was a poor woodcutter in Mino Province during the reign of Empress Genshô (715-724) who toiled ceaselessly in order to provide his aged father with the <em>sake</em> the father so loved. Returning home wearily after a day of hard labor, he found a gourd floating in the pool at the foot of a waterfall. Cutting it open, the woodcutter found it full of <em>sake</em>; from that day forward, he was able to provide his father with all the <em>sake</em> he desired. The Empress was so impressed by the woodcutter's exemplary filial piety that she appointed him Governor of the province, even changing the name of her reign to "Nourishing Old Age" (Yôrô, 717-24). This is how Yôrô waterfall got its name, and it remains a popular tourist destination today.
Hokusai is noted for his fascination with a chemical dye called "Berlin Blue" (Prussian blue) that found its way into Japan from Europe via China in the eighteenth century. In this and other prints he uses it in shades ranging from palest robin's-egg to near-black, the latter contrasting vividly with areas of white. The gnarled pines clinging to inhospitable rocks are a frequent symbol of hardiness in old age.
, Signature: Iitsu hitsu
1997.108
item
Memorial Art Gallery
6/22/2000
97.108DI1
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97.108DI2
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97.108SL1
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2 x 2
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