Goldfish farm
- Date:
- n.d.
- Medium:
- Color woodblock print; nagaban, surimono
- Format:
- Nagaban
- Source:
- Art Institute of Chicago
Description
A nagaban surimono depicts the ponds and tanks of a goldfish farm, where the ornamental fish — breeding and display of which was a fashionable Edo hobby — drift in their water enclosures. Hokusai's treatment likely plays on the formal elegance of goldfish as subjects, their curving, lacquered bodies offering both visual delight and symbolic associations with good fortune and domesticated beauty.
More Prints by Katsushika Hokusai
Hokusai manga (Hokusai Sketchbooks)
19th century
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1804
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The Fishermen of Katase Hauling in Their Nets: The Purple Shell (Murasakigai)
1821
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1822
Color woodblock print; shikishiban, surimono
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Frequently Asked Questions
Goldfish farm was created by Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾北斎) in n.d..
Goldfish farm depicts fish and animals.