Ono no Komachi Viewing a Cherry Tree (Komachi zakura), from the series Cherry Blossoms of Katsushika (Katsushika sakura zukushi)
- Date:
- Edo period (1615–1868), about 1820
- Medium:
- Color woodblock print; surimono
- Source:
- Art Institute of Chicago
From the [surimono](/glossary/surimono) series Cherry Blossoms of Katsushika (Katsushika [sakura](/glossary/sakura) zukushi), this print pairs the Heian poetess Ono no Komachi with the cherry variety that bears her name. Komachi, one of the Six Poetic Immortals and a defining figure of classical Japanese verse, was a perennial subject for Gakutei and his Katsushikaren circle, whose kyoka poets delighted in mapping famous beauties onto named flowering varieties around Edo. Designed around 1820 and held by the Art Institute of Chicago, the print exemplifies the [shikishiban](/glossary/shikishiban) surimono format at its most refined, with the poet rendered in delicate linear outline against soft color fields. The choice of subject also functions as a commentary on the Katsushika circle's own literary identity, since the surimono series itself was a survey of cherry varieties tied to legendary women. The impression preserves the crisp keyblock and quiet palette that defined Gakutei's mature surimono practice, with calligraphic kyoka inscriptions integrated into the composition as both image and text. The Art Institute's holdings of Gakutei's surimono are among the most extensive in any North American museum, providing essential reference material for the study of his Katsushikaren commissions.
Ono no Komachi Viewing a Cherry Tree (Komachi zakura), from the series Cherry Blossoms of Katsushika (Katsushika sakura zukushi) was created by Yashima Gakutei (八島岳亭) in Edo period (1615–1868), about 1820.
Ono no Komachi Viewing a Cherry Tree (Komachi zakura), from the series Cherry Blossoms of Katsushika (Katsushika sakura zukushi) depicts spring.
