The Strange Occurrence of Ukiyo Matahei and his Famous Paintings (1853): Art, History and Details

The Strange Occurrence of Ukiyo Matahei and his Famous Paintings (1853) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Utagawa Kuniyoshi (Japanese, 1797–1861).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

In this image, otsu-e folk heroes have seemingly come to life, leaving their shadowy figures in the paintings in front of the artist. Included among them are a demon (oni), a monkey, the wisteria maiden, and the bald, tall-headed God of Longevity, Fukurokuju. Ukiyo Matahei, also known as Iwasa Matabei, was a famous printmaker who is also thought to have been a painter of otsu-e.

Object facts

• Title: The Strange Occurrence of Ukiyo Matahei and his Famous Paintings
• Date: 1853
• Creator attribution: Utagawa Kuniyoshi (Japanese, 1797–1861)
• Culture: Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
• Type: Print
• Technique: diptych, color woodblock prints
• Dimensions: Overall: 37.8 x 26.4 cm (14 7/8 x 10 3/8 in.)
• Collection: Japanese Art
• Department: Japanese Art
• Accession number: 1916.1160.b

Collection credit

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.