Fond of Children (Kodomo-zuki), from the series Eight Views of Favorite Things of Today (Tosei kobutsu hakkei)

Fond of Children (Kodomo-zuki), from the series Eight Views of Favorite Things of Today (Tosei kobutsu hakkei), is a Kitagawa Utamaro print of about 1801 at the Harvard Art Museums. The series adapts the venerable East Asian convention of 'eight views' - traditionally landscape themes such as the Eight Views of Omi or of the Xiao and Xiang - to a parodic register, in which 'modern favourite things' replace famous scenic spots. Each sheet pairs a contemporary type with a passion: lovers of music, sweets, dress or, as here, of children. The composition focuses on an Edo woman engaged with one or more children, her affection conveyed through close physical contact, attentive gaze and softened gesture. Utamaro's draftsmanship lends the adult figure his characteristic Edo bijin-ga type while observing the rounded forms and quick movements of the young with equal interest. Patterned robes, simplified backgrounds and economical colour use position the print within the mature nishiki-e style of his late career. The series is significant as an example of mitate, the parodic mode in which ukiyo-e referenced classical genres while celebrating the everyday culture of the chonin. As held at Harvard, Fond of Children shows how Utamaro extended bijin-ga into the domestic sphere and helped consolidate the iconography of the affectionate mother that later nineteenth-century print designers would inherit.