Eagle and Monkey
- Date:
- c. 1725
- Medium:
- Hand-colored woodblock print; hosoban, urushi-e
- Source:
- Art Institute of Chicago
Description
A large eagle with black-and-cream mottled plumage perches on a gnarled, leafy branch, wings raised and spread behind it while its head turns sharply downward, beak open toward a small monkey crouched below on a rocky outcrop. The palette is limited to black, ochre-yellow, and the warm tan of the paper, with the hand-applied color pooling loosely within the printed outlines. This hosoban urushi-e print, "Eagle and Monkey" by Nishimura Shigenaga (1720), fills the narrow vertical format with the eagle's angular wing and tail feathers stretching to the top edge and slender leaf-branches framing both creatures.
More Prints by Nishimura Shigenaga
Jurojin with crane and tortoise
18th century
Woodblock print; hashira-e, sumizuri-e
Yokihi (Chinese: Yang Guifei) with attendant
18th century
Woodblock print; hosoban, sumizuri-e
The Sumiyoshi Dance
18th century
Hand-colored woodblock print; hosoban, urushi-e
The Actor Sanogawa Ichimatsu I as Ushiwakamaru in the play "Kiichi Hogen Shinanguruma," performed at the Morita Theater in the eleventh month, 1754
1754
Color woodblock print; left sheet of hosoban triptych, benizuri-e
Frequently Asked Questions
Eagle and Monkey was created by Nishimura Shigenaga (西村重長) in c. 1725.