Who painted 萩|The Bush Clover (Hagi)?

萩|The Bush Clover (Hagi) was painted by Suzuki Harunobu in 1766.

Where can I see 萩|The Bush Clover (Hagi)?

萩|The Bush Clover (Hagi) is held by Metropolitan Museum of Art.

What movement is 萩|The Bush Clover (Hagi)?

萩|The Bush Clover (Hagi) is associated with Romanticism.

Artwork

萩|The Bush Clover (Hagi)

Suzuki Harunobu , 1766

萩|The Bush Clover (Hagi) is an ink print by the Romanticist artist Suzuki Harunobu. It dates from 1766 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

About this work

Subject & Meaning

The depiction of a single elegant woman amid a recognizable plant embodies the bijin-ga ideal of harmonizing human beauty with the rhythms of the natural world.

The Bush Clover (Hagi) by Suzuki Harunobu is a bijin-ga, a genre of ukiyo-e print portraying idealized beautiful women. The composition centers on a female figure rendered alongside the bush clover plant (Lespedeza bicolor), the species that lends the work its title. In Japanese poetic and visual tradition, hagi has long carried symbolic weight, associated with the arrival of autumn and frequently invoked in classical poetry as a seasonal motif.

By pairing a graceful woman with the flowering shrub, Harunobu fuses the conventions of the feminine portrait with a celebrated seasonal reference, a hallmark approach of his nishiki-e designs. The depiction of a single elegant woman amid a recognizable plant embodies the bijin-ga ideal of harmonizing human beauty with the rhythms of the natural world.

Technique & Style

The work is a nishiki-e woodblock print produced in 1766 using ink and color on paper. The print depicts a woman amid flowering Lespedeza bicolor (bush clover), aligning with bijin-ga conventions of the period. The medium combines carved blocks for line and tone with multiple color impressions to achieve delicate gradations and a refined palette typical of Harunobu’s early experiments in full-color printing.

History & Provenance

The Bush Clover (Hagi) is a woodblock print created by Suzuki Harunobu in 1766. Executed in the nishiki-e style, the work depicts a woman standing among Lespedeza bicolor plants. While the specific commission details and the original ownership chain prior to current holdings are not detailed in the provided records, the work is firmly dated to 1766 based on the artist's established timeline for this piece. The print is currently held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Overview

The Bush Clover is a woodblock print by Suzuki Harunobu, created around 1766. It is a small, intricately detailed image featuring a woman and a flowering plant.

Context

As part of the ukiyo-e tradition, this print reflects a genre where artists transformed natural motifs into decorative patterns. Such prints were designed to be affordable and accessible for domestic enjoyment.