Watermill at Onden (Onden no suisha)
- Medium:
- Source:
- Victoria and Albert Museum
Description
A large wooden waterwheel with a thatched roof dominates the left side, its blue-toned buckets carrying cascading water down into a rushing stream at the base. On the right, five figures cross a grassy bank near the mill: two men carry bundles on their backs, a woman stoops with a wooden pail, a child pulls a turtle on a string, and another crouches with a basket; a snow-capped Mount Fuji rises in the distance beneath a blue-gradient sky, with low hills, trees, and a row of thatched rooftops along the far shore. The palette is limited to indigo blues, soft yellows, and grey-greens, giving the scene a cool, quiet, everyday-labor mood. (Katsushika Hokusai, "Watermill at Onden," woodblock print.)
More Prints by Katsushika Hokusai
Hokusai manga (Hokusai Sketchbooks)
19th century
Woodblock-printed book; ink and light color on paper
Fukuroi
1804
Japanese woodblock print
The Fishermen of Katase Hauling in Their Nets: The Purple Shell (Murasakigai)
1821
Color woodblock print with metallic pigments; surimono shikishiban
Burdock Root (Kurama gobo), from the series "A Selection of Horses (Uma-zukushi)"
1822
Color woodblock print; shikishiban, surimono
More Landscapes Prints
Lake Kugushi in Wakasa Province (Wakasa Kugushiko), from the series Souvenirs of Travel I (Tabi miyage dai isshu)"
Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Autumn Maple Leaves at Takao, from the album Eight Views of Kyoto (Kyôto hakkei)
Woodblock print
The Beach at Kaiganji in Sanuki Province (Sanuki Kaiganji no hama), from the series "Collection of Views of Japan II, Kansai Edition (Nihon fukei shu II Kansai hen)"
1934
Color woodblock print; oban
Tea Kettle, section of a sheet from the series "Mirror of Stone Rubbings of Views of the Provinces" (Kohon meihitsu ishizuri kagami)
n.d.
Woodblock print; ishizuri-e, section of harimaze sheet
Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
Watermill at Onden (Onden no suisha) was created by Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾北斎).
Watermill at Onden (Onden no suisha) depicts landscapes.