The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of February 3, 2023

Catching Fireflies

c. 1796–97

Part of a set. See all set records

Kitagawa Utamaro 喜多川 歌麿

(Japanese, c. 1754–1806)

Japan, Edo Period

(1615-1868)

Triptych of woodblock prints; ink and color on paper

Overall: 38.2 x 76.8 cm (15 1/16 x 30 1/4 in.)

Gift of Jeptha H. Wade in honor of Emily V. Wade 1975.98

Location

not on view

Description

Caught up in a frenzied pursuit of fireflies, one boy has waded into a stream after his quarry, while a younger one watches in anticipation as a young woman thrusts her fan into the air in the hope of capturing hers. In the center of the composition, a girl examines the insects trapped in her elegantly carved cage.

Citations
Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1975.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 63, no. 2, 1976, pp. 31–71. Mentioned: p. 71, cat. no. 165 www.jstor.org
Exhibition history

Year in Review 1975. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (February 3-March 7, 1976).

Japanese Woodblock Prints: Themes and Techniques. Cleveland Museum of Art Education Department, Cleveland, OH (1980).

Japanese Gallery 235 Rotation - January-July 2017. The Cleveland Museum of Art (January 9-July 10, 2017).

Japanese Gallery 235 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (March 27-July 10, 2017).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1975.98