Hour of the Snake (1859)
Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III)1859 · Landscape · Public domain
Add to a brief →
Rights checked · print-ready master at your size · adapted to your space on request
Provenance and rights
- Rights
- Public domain (artist died 1865)
Specifications
- Year
- 1859
- Nationality / school
- Japanese
- Lifespan
- 1786–1865
About the artwork
Dated 1859, "Hour of the Snake" is an artwork by Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III). Illustration in brief: The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries are often described as a golden age of book and magazine illustration. Printing methods such as woodcut, engraving, lithography, and photomechanical reproduction each shaped how illustrators worked. Context for 1859: Landscape gained new prestige through groups such as the Barbizon painters in France and the Hudson River School in the United States, and by mid-century Realism turned to ordinary people and everyday labour. The first half of the nineteenth century moved from Neoclassicism to Romanticism, which placed emotion, nature, and the sublime at the centre of painting. The catalogue places it in Illustration. The format is landscape.
"Hour of the Snake" is shown in the onlly.art catalogue for reference and browsing. A landscape format suits wide, low wall spaces such as the stretch above a bed, mantel, or sideboard. Illustrative graphics are valued for their decorative line work and narrative quality, which makes them a strong fit for gallery walls, kids rooms, studies, and more intimate interiors. Browsing works by the same artist, or from the same period, is a good way to compare styles before choosing what suits your space.
About the artist
Japanese, 1786–1865
If you like the visual language of Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III), explore more works by the same artist in our collection.
