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New Year’s Eve Fox Fires at the Changing Tree (Ōji shozoku enoki omisoka no kitsunebi), from the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei)

A work made of color woodblock print; ōban.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of color woodblock print; ōban.

Date:

1857

Artist:

Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川 広重
Japanese, 1797-1858

About this artwork

Unlike most prints by Utagawa Hiroshige, this work is based on folklore. Japanese tradition holds that on New Year’s Eve, foxes gather at a specific tree near the Oji Inari Shrine in preparation for a visit to the site. On the way there, the foxes produce distinctive flames from their mouths that the local farmers can use to predict the crops of the coming year. The artist incorporated many different shades of gray to set off the barely visible fires coming from some 60 foxes approaching the shrine. Their flickering light is echoed by stars visible through the bare branches of the Changing Tree, which survives to this day.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Arts of Asia

Artist

Utagawa Hiroshige

Title

New Year’s Eve Fox Fires at the Changing Tree (Ōji shozoku enoki omisoka no kitsunebi), from the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei)

Place

Japan (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1857

Medium

Color woodblock print; ōban

Dimensions

33.3 × 21.8 cm (13 1/8 × 8 9/16 in.)

Credit Line

Clarence Buckingham Collection

Reference Number

1925.3765

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/26617/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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