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The Laughing Demoness (Warai Hannya), from the series "One Hundred Ghost Tales (Hyaku monogatari)"

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

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  • A work made of color woodblock print; chuban.

Date:

1831-32

Artist:

Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾 北斎 (Japanese, 1760-1849)

About this artwork

Here, a female demon (hannya) with horns holds the decap-itated head of a child; blood oozes from the wounds caused by her long fingernails. This image references the legend of Kishimojin, a goddess from early Buddhism known in Sanskrit as Hariti. Originally, this goddess was a terri-fying ogress who was determined to eat all of the babies in the town of Rajgir, India. The Buddha heard the pleas of the townspeople and hid one of Hariti’s own children, leading her to understand the grief she had caused. She then converted to Buddhism and was eventually accepted as a goddess and a protector of children.

The Art Institute’s collection boasts one of the most well-preserved and appreciated editions of Katsushika Hok usa i’s One Hundred Ghost Tales series (1831–32). The artist apparently planned to produce a full hundred images, but the series was not completed and only five prints are known. The title refers to a game in which people would gather at night to tell scary stories, putting out a candle after each tale until the room was completely dark. These small-format works feature a bright-blue color made possible by Berlin blue pigment (often called “Prussian blue”), which had become affordable shortly before their production. Although this hue may seem cheery to us, Hokusai’s original audience would have associated it with death and the occult.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Arts of Asia

Artist

Katsushika Hokusai

Title

The Laughing Demoness (Warai Hannya), from the series "One Hundred Ghost Tales (Hyaku monogatari)"

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.

1831–1832

Medium

Color woodblock print; chuban

Dimensions

25.3 × 18 cm (9 15/16 × 7 1/16 in.)

Credit Line

Clarence Buckingham Collection

Reference Number

1943.605

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.

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https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/47411/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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