Crow in Snow (Settchû karasu)
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Source:
- Museum of Fine Arts Boston
- Image courtesy of
- Museum of Fine Arts Boston
Description
This kacho-e depicts a single crow perched against a snow-laden backdrop, a subject that carries strong associations with winter stillness in Japanese pictorial tradition. Kyosai likely rendered the bird with the bold, economical brushwork characteristic of his training under Utagawa Kuniyoshi and his study of Kano-school painting. The stark contrast between the crow's black plumage and the white negative space of accumulated snow would have been achieved through careful block carving and the deliberate absence of ink rather than white pigment application. The composition draws on a long lineage of ink-painting subjects while translating them into the nishiki-e woodblock format.
More Prints by Kawanabe Kyosai
from the series One Hundred Pictures by Kyôsai (Kyôsai hyakuzu)
Woodblock print
Old Picture of the Rashômon Gate (Rashômon no ko zu), from the series Scenes of Famous Places along the Tôkaidô Road (Tôkaidô meisho fûkei), also known as the Processional Tôkaidô (Gyôretsu Tôkaidô), here called Tôkaidô meisho tsuzuki
Woodblock print
Tsukishimadera Temple in Hyôgo (Hyôgo Tsukishimadera), from the series Scenes of Famous Places along the Tôkaidô Road (Tôkaidô meisho fûkei), also known as the Processional Tôkaidô (Gyôretsu Tôkaidô), here called Tôkaidô meisho no uchi
Woodblock print
from the series One Hundred Pictures by Kyôsai (Kyôsai hyakuzu)
Woodblock print
More Snow Scenes Prints
Fair Weather After Snow at Yamato Bridge, Kyoto (Yamato bashi no yukibare), Taishô period, dated 1924
Woodblock print
The Compound of the Tenman Shrine at Kameido in the Snow (Kameido Tenmangu keidai no yuki), from the series "Famous Places in the Eastern Capital (Toto meisho)"
c. 1832/38
Color woodblock print; oban
Miyajima in Snow (Yuki no Miyajima)
Yuki no Miyajima
1929
Color woodblock print; oban
Evening Snow at Shiha Park, Tokyo
1932
Woodblock print
Frequently Asked Questions
Crow in Snow (Settchû karasu) was created by Kawanabe Kyosai (河鍋暁斎).
Crow in Snow (Settchû karasu) depicts snow scenes.