# Woman About to Write a Poem

**Yashima Gakutei** (Japanese, 1786 (?)-1868)  
c. 1824  
Color woodblock print with metallic pigments; surimono shikishiban  
21.3 × 18.3 cm (8 7/16 × 7 1/4 in.)

Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1954.501. [The museum's record](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/80963).

## About this work

Yashima Gakutei designed this in about 1824. It is now at the Art Institute of Chicago.

### What you’re looking at

A work made of color woodblock print with metallic pigments; surimono shikishiban.

_Description from the Art Institute of Chicago._

### How it was made

- **Surimono.** Privately commissioned Japanese prints, often New Year greetings, made in small runs on thick paper with metallic pigments and blind embossing, and usually paired with poems.
- **Colour woodblock print.** In Japan these were a team effort. The artist drew the design, a carver cut it into cherry-wood blocks, one block for each colour, and a printer brushed on the pigment and rubbed each sheet by hand. Full-colour prints of this kind were called nishiki-e, “brocade pictures”, from the 1760s on.

### [Yashima Gakutei](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/yashima-gakutei)

Japanese, 1786 (?)-1868

## Facts

- Type: Print
- Culture: Japan
- Real size: about 8½ × 7 in (21 × 18 cm). The original is small: even the 8 × 10 in print shows it larger than life.
- Century: 19th century
- Movement: [Ukiyo-e](https://www.ochreeditions.com/movements/ukiyo-e)
- Subjects: Japanese (culture or style)
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/216.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/216/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86; 24 × 36 in $108; 30 × 40 in $148
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208; 24 × 36 in $258; 30 × 40 in $338
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118; 20 × 30 in $148; 24 × 36 in $178; 30 × 40 in $228
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5; 24 × 36 in $5; 30 × 40 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/woman-about-to-write-a-poem-aic-80963).