Iwamurada: Blind Men Brawling
c. 1835–36 · Woodblock print; ink and colour on paper · National Diet Library, Tokyo
📦 Free shipping on every order, arriving in 4–9 business days with production included. Express ($14.90) at checkout arrives in 4–6 business days.
About this work
- Artist
- Keisai Eisen (1790–1848)
- Year
- c. 1835–36
- Medium
- Woodblock print; ink and colour on paper
- Original size
- approx. 23 × 35 cm (horizontal ōban)
- Collection
- National Diet Library, Tokyo (impression pid 1306284, call no. 寄別2-2-1-5; many other impressions exist)
- Movement
- Ukiyo-e
- Series
- Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaidō
A brawl breaks out among blind travellers on a road through green fields. One swings his staff overhead, another stripped to his loincloth grabs a man by the collar, others tumble to the ground among their scattered belongings, and a dog barks at the right. Beyond, flat rice fields and a stream stretch to blue mountains under a pink sky. This is print twenty-three of The Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaidō, published by Hōeidō and later Kinjudō, c. 1835–36. Keisai Eisen, who designed it, began the series and Utagawa Hiroshige completed it. The scene is a comic one. Iwamurada was the twenty-second station on the Nakasendō, the inland road from Edo to Kyoto; the English title is descriptive, and impressions vary in colour and condition.
This full-bleed edition prints the work edge to edge from a high-resolution scan of the original, very slightly cropped (a few percent at most) to fit the sheet. The gallery edition shows the whole work, uncropped. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
Fresh green fields and pink sky behind a tangle of figures in blue, green and tan, for a study, home office or den at 24×16 in black. It pairs with Hiroshige's Goyu: Women Stopping Travelers for two comic scenes of roadside commotion.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Ukiyo-e painting
- Era
- 19th century (c. 1835–36)
- Orientation
- Landscape
- Mood
- classic
- Rooms
- study or library, home office, living room, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 24×16. Prints at 18×12, 24×16 in — 18×12 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 24×16 above a console or sideboard.
Framing. Printed edge to edge: a slim black or natural wood frame right to the image, or let the canvas wrap do the framing. Also available gallery-wrapped on canvas, ready to hang with no frame.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is Iwamurada: Blind Men Brawling in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was Iwamurada: Blind Men Brawling painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
An exhibition poster
The same artwork as a gallery exhibition poster — title, artist & date typeset beneath the image on a soft ground.
A fine-art print
The same artwork as a clean fine-art print — the image shown large with a minimal caption.
