Paper

Student Artwork Guide

Catching Fireflies

Suzuki Harunobu

Name Class Date
Suzuki Harunobu, Catching Fireflies. Public domain. See this canvas under a moving light: the drawing, the true colour under the varnish, the bare pigment

The facts

Artist
Suzuki Harunobu originaluniqueart.com/en/artists/suzuki-harunobu/
Artist’s dates
1725 – 1770
Movement
Ukiyo-e Japanese woodblock prints of actors, city pleasures and landscapes, printed cheaply for ordinary buyers.

Copyright This work is in the public domain. Suzuki Harunobu died in 1770; copyright lasts 70 years after the artist’s death, so it ended in 1840.

Source: OriginalUniqueArt.com — accessed Oct. 10, 2026

Catching Fireflies — Suzuki Harunobu Part 1 · The artwork

In context

Catching Fireflies — Suzuki Harunobu

When might this have been painted?

  1. 1720
  2. 1730
  3. 1740
  4. 1750
  5. 1760
  6. 1770

Row above: the years. Row below: how old the artist was at the start and at the end of each span — 0 at birth, 45 at death.

Shaded: the lifetime of Suzuki Harunobu (1725–1770) every dated painting, decade by decade

This record has no exact year on file — using the artist's lifetime and the work's style, what decade would you guess?

Compare with

Pick one work above: name two things it shares with this one, and one thing that's different.

More works to set beside this one: originaluniqueart.com/en/art/similar/suzuki-harunobu-catching-fireflies-9FJK6L-en/

Colours

Measured from the image

    Main colour

    Putty #e8e8cc

    Catalogued palette

    • #E8E8CC
    • #7F6F54
    • #121919
    • #B2A979

    These colours inside the artist’s whole palette Find other paintings by colour

    Main colour name
    Putty
    Intensity
    Balanced How saturated and varied the colours are, from a single toned-down hue to many bright ones.
    Contrast
    Statement How much the colours differ in lightness and saturation across the picture.
    Harmony
    Strong Color Unity How well the colours work together, from clashing to fully unified.
    Brightness
    Balanced How light or dark the picture reads overall, from deep shadow to bright highlight.
    Saturation
    Subtle Color How pure and strong the colours are, from near-grey to fully vivid.

    Where in the world is this painting looked at?

    • under 1%
    • 1–3%
    • 3–8%
    • 8–20%
    • 20% and over
    This painting alone has too few recorded visitors to map, so the plate reads every work by Suzuki Harunobu over the last twelve months — 22 countries in all. Where these figures come from

    The ten leading countries

    1. 1 China 68.5%17,600 visits
    2. 2 United States of America 7.4%1,900 visits
    3. 3 Costa Rica 4.3%1,100 visits
    4. 4 Philippines 2.7%700 visits
    5. 5 Romania 2.7%700 visits
    6. 6 Singapore 2.7%700 visits
    7. 7 Portugal 2.3%600 visits
    8. 8 Australia 1.2%300 visits
    9. 9 Greece 1.2%300 visits
    10. 10 Hong Kong 1.2%300 visits
    11. · 12 other countries 5.8%1,500 visits

    Find the three darkest countries on the map. Is the museum that keeps this painting in any of them? Write down one reason people far away might look at it.

    The 20 most looked-at works by Suzuki Harunobu

    1. 1 Women Embracing In A Green House 3.3%1,000 visits
    2. 2 Osen 3.0%900 visits
    3. 3 Young Woman Jumping From The Kiyomizu Temple Balcony With An Umbrella As A Parachute 2.0%600 visits
    4. 4 Couple Playing A Kokyû Together 1.7%500 visits
    5. 5 Ofuji 1.7%500 visits
    6. 6 Making The Rooster Drunk To Prevent His Crowing At Dawn 1.3%400 visits
    7. 7 Hunting for fireflies, 1768 1.3%400 visits
    8. 8 Fulling Cloth At The Jewel River 1.3%400 visits
    9. 9 Woman With Branch Of Yamabuki 1.3%400 visits
    10. 10 Beautiful Courtesan Motoura 1.0%300 visits
    11. 11 Young Lady Looking Through Door At Her Kamuro 1.0%300 visits
    12. 12 Woman Dressed As Palace Servant Burning Maple Leaves 1.0%300 visits
    13. 13 The Birth Of The First Child 1.0%300 visits
    14. 14 Couple Beside A Plum Tree At Night 1.0%300 visits
    15. 15 Two Young Women Admiring Plum Blossoms 1.0%300 visits
    16. 16 A Man And Woman Reading A Letter In The Kotatsu 1.0%300 visits
    17. 17 Actor Segawa Kikunojô Ii As The Courtesan Umegae 1.0%300 visits
    18. 18 Chôfu Jewel River 1.0%300 visits
    19. 19 Tea House 0.7%200 visits
    20. — Catching Fireflies this painting 0.0%0 visits

    Together these works take 26.6% of all the attention this artist's paintings received over the last twelve months. The catalogue holds 861 works by this artist, of which 196 were looked at at least once. This painting has not been looked at yet in that time — it closes the list without a rank. The same counts, month by month

    Bars measure attention, not quality. Pick the work at the top and this one: name one thing that might make a painting famous beyond how well it is painted.

    Source: OriginalUniqueArt.com — accessed Oct. 10, 2026

    Catching Fireflies — Suzuki Harunobu Part 2 · In context

    Artist and museum

    Artist

    Suzuki Harunobu

    Born in Tokyo, Japan

    early life and influences

    suzuki harunobu, a japanese designer of woodblock print art in the ukiyo-e style, was born in 1725. little is known about his early life, but it is believed he grew up in kyoto. his work shows evidence of influences from many artists, including torii kiyomitsu, ishikawa toyonobu, the kawamata school, and the kanō school. however, the strongest influence upon harunobu was the painter and printmaker nishikawa sukenobu, who may have been harunobu's direct teacher.

    artistic career

    harunobu began his career in the style of the torii school, creating many works that were skillful but not innovative. however, with his involvement with a group of literati samurai, he tackled new formats and styles. in 1764, harunobu was chosen to aid these samurai in their amateur efforts to create e-goyomi (calendars). these calendar prints would be the first nishiki-e (brocade prints), with harunobu experimenting with better woods for the woodblocks and using more expensive colors.

    notable works and innovations

    suzuki harunobu's "brocade prints" led to full-color production becoming standard, with ten or more blocks used to create each print.

    his use of multiple separate woodblocks in the creation of a single image was an innovation that depended on using notches and wedges to hold the paper in place.

    harunobu's prints were popular with the chōnin class, who had become wealthy enough to afford to decorate their homes with them.

    legacy

    suzuki harunobu's work was central to forming the west's perception of japanese art in the late 19th century. his influence can be seen in the landscapes of hokusai and hiroshige, which were popularized during the japonisme trend.

    view suzuki harunobu's artworks on AllPaintingsStore

    read more about suzuki harunobu on wikipedia

    explore ukiyo-e art on AllPaintingsStore

    notable paintings and artists

    utagawa hiroshige's kyoka tokaido series, seki (view on AllPaintingsStore)

    miyagawa isshō's shimabara courtesans exorcizing demons (view on AllPaintingsStore)

    utagawa kuniyoshi's a votive tablet with masks of kabuki actors at face value (view on AllPaintingsStore)

    museums and collections

    indianapolis museum of art (indianapolis, united states)

    fukuoka city museum (fukuoka, japan)

    Where to read more

    Find this online

    QR code linking to the download page for Catching Fireflies

    originaluniqueart.com/en/art/download/suzuki-harunobu-catching-fireflies-9FJK6L-en/

    Cite this artwork

    MLA
    Harunobu, Suzuki. Catching Fireflies. n.d., https://originaluniqueart.com/en/art/suzuki-harunobu-catching-fireflies-9FJK6L-en/
    APA
    Harunobu, Suzuki (n.d.). Catching Fireflies [Painting]. https://originaluniqueart.com/en/art/suzuki-harunobu-catching-fireflies-9FJK6L-en/
    Chicago
    Suzuki Harunobu. Catching Fireflies. n.d. https://originaluniqueart.com/en/art/suzuki-harunobu-catching-fireflies-9FJK6L-en/
    Harvard
    Harunobu, Suzuki (n.d.) Catching Fireflies. Available at: https://originaluniqueart.com/en/art/suzuki-harunobu-catching-fireflies-9FJK6L-en/

    Source: OriginalUniqueArt.com — accessed Oct. 10, 2026

    Catching Fireflies — Suzuki Harunobu Part 3 · Artist and museum

    Look closely

    Catching Fireflies — Suzuki Harunobu

    Look closely

    Answer in your own words. There are no wrong answers here — only answers you can explain.

    1. What catches your eye first, and why?
    2. Which colours or shapes create the mood — and what is that mood?
    3. Our catalogue files this work under: japanese landscape, fireflies at night, rural life scene. Do you agree? What would you add, or take away?
    4. Look back at Title Name(Japanese): 輿入, earlier in this guide. Name two things it shares with this work, and one that is different.
    5. Ukiyo-e: Japanese woodblock prints of actors, city pleasures and landscapes, printed cheaply for ordinary buyers. Where can you see that in this work?

    Your response

    Write a short paragraph about this artwork. Use the facts from the earlier parts of this guide, and your answers above.

    Source: OriginalUniqueArt.com — accessed Oct. 10, 2026

    Catching Fireflies — Suzuki Harunobu Part 4 · Look closely

    Questions & Answers

    Can I preview "Catching Fireflies" by Suzuki Harunobu before ordering?

    To preview a reproduction of "Catching Fireflies" by Suzuki Harunobu, open the artwork's Preview page.

    Which color stands out most in "Catching Fireflies"?

    The color that stands out most in "Catching Fireflies" is putty (#e8e8cc). The dominant color is useful when matching an artwork to an interior.

    Which artist and which style stand behind "Catching Fireflies"?

    Behind "Catching Fireflies" stand Suzuki Harunobu and the Ukiyo-e movement.