Boy as Hotei, from an untitled series of children as the Seven Gods of Good Fortune

Boy as Hotei, from an untitled series of children as the Seven Gods of Good Fortune, is a witty and tender print by Kitao Shigemasa dated to 1780 and held in the Art Institute of Chicago. The series transforms the Seven Gods of Good Fortune, traditionally depicted as adult deities of varying ages and personalities, into children performing their roles in a charming inversion that was popular in Edo ukiyo-e. In this sheet, a young boy assumes the identity of Hotei, the jolly wanderer associated with the great cloth sack of treasures, contentment, and the protection of children. By dressing a child as Hotei, Shigemasa plays on the long-standing association between the deity and the young, doubling the warmth of the image and offering buyers a print that would have suited family celebrations and New Year occasions. The Art Institute of Chicago preserves this work as part of its larger collection of Edo ukiyo-e and complements other Shigemasa prints in its holdings. As founder of the Kitao school, Shigemasa was particularly adept at images of children, balancing playfulness with a quiet dignity that prevented his young subjects from sliding into caricature. His line work is firm but unhurried, with attention to the soft contours of the child's body and the textile pattern of the costume. Within his career, prints from the Seven Gods of Good Fortune series demonstrate his capacity for serial design, his sensitivity to seasonal and religious themes, and his deep engagement with the visual vocabulary of Edo popular Buddhism, all qualities that helped his work circulate widely and inform later treatments of similar subjects in the Kitao school and beyond.