Searching for Fireflies
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “Searching for Fireflies” now? Collection: Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago. Not on view at present. Checked October 12, 2026.
Chicago, United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the work
In this print, the complete absence of shadows or shading is a sign that the artist had not yet captured or become interested in the nuances of realistically presenting scenes set at specific times of day or night. The standing girl holds a lantern while the other one kneels by a cage for the fireflies.
Art Institute of ChicagoCC BY 4.0
Details
- Accession number
- 1952.327
In the catalog
Sources
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Image: Art Institute of Chicago — CC0
In the life of Suzuki Harunobu
The whole life1765–1770
Five years at his peak: 20 books and a thousand prints
Between 1765 and 1770 Harunobu created over twenty illustrated books, over one thousand colour prints (other accounts give more than eight hundred works) and a number of paintings.
1765–1770
Recognised as the master of ukiyo-e and widely imitated
In the last years of his life Harunobu came to be regarded as the master of ukiyo-e and was widely imitated: many artists copied his style during his lifetime.
late 1760s
Master of bijin-ga and scenes of Edo life
Harunobu became one of the primary producers of pictures of beautiful women (bijin-ga) and scenes of urban life for the Edo print connoisseur market: his prints include not only geisha, courtesans and sumo wrestlers but also street vendors and errand boys. Accounts differ on portraits of kabuki actors: by some he was among the first to paint them, by others he scornfully refused the subject.
8 July 1770
Death
He died on 8 July 1770; he is said to have been 46.
