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Hiroshige (1797 - 1858)

Aki Province, Itsukushima, Depiction of a Festival

Series: Famous Places in the 60-odd Provinces
Medium: Woodblock Print
Date: 1853
Size (H x W): 14.5 x 10.75 (inches)
Publisher: Koshimuraya Heisuke (Koshihei)
Seals: Date and Aratame
Signature: Hiroshige hitsu
Condition: Very good color and impression, light soiling and wear, light original album backing. pinhole bottom left margin.
$2,800.00

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Description

Against the backdrop of Mount Misen and approaching ships, the iconic torii of Itsukushima Shrine rises from the sea, truncated by the left and top margins. To the right, a boat decorated for the Kangensai Festival steers toward the torii and the shrine beyond. Held on the 17th day of the 6th month of the lunar calendar, the Kangensai Festival takes its name from kangen, or a type of classical court music played with winds, strings, and percussion. During this music-filled celebration, an elaborate boat of musicians ferries a portable shrine across the Inland Sea, returning just before midnight. Itsukushima, also known as Miyajima, is one of the “Three Famous Views of Japan” (Nihon Sankei). Today, Aki Province belongs to western Hiroshima Prefecture.

About the artist

Born in Edo as Tokutaro Ando, Hiroshige Utagawa grew up in a minor samurai family. His father belonged to the firefighting force assigned to Edo Castle. It is here that Hiroshige was given his first exposure to art: legend has it that a fellow fireman tutored him in the Kano school of painting, though Hiroshige’s first official teacher was Rinsai. Though Hiroshige tried to join Toyokuni Utagawa's studio, he was turned away. In 1811, young Hiroshige entered an apprenticeship with the celebrated Toyohiro Utagawa. After only a year, he was bestowed with the artist name Hiroshige. He soon gave up his role in the fire department to focus entirely on painting and print design. During this time he studied painting, intrigued by the Shijo school. Hiroshige’s artistic genius went largely unnoticed until 1832.

In Hiroshige Utagawa's groundbreaking series of Japanese woodblock prints, The 53 Stations of the Tokaido (1832-1833), he captured the journey along the Tokaido road, the highway connecting Edo to Kyoto, the imperial capital. With the Tokugawa Shogunate relaxing centuries of age-old restrictions on travel, urban populations embraced travel art and Hiroshige Utagawa became one of the most prominent and successful ukiyo-e artists. He also produced kacho-e (bird-and-flower pictures) to enormous success. In 1858, at the age of 61, he passed away as a result of the Edo cholera epidemic.

Hiroshige Utagawa’s woodblock prints continue to convey the beauty of Japan and provide insight into the everyday life of its citizens during the Edo period. The appeal of his tender, lyrical landscapes was not restricted to the Japanese audience. Hiroshige’s work had a profound influence on the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists of Europe: Toulouse-Lautrec was fascinated with Hiroshige’s daring diagonal compositions and inventive use of perspective, while Van Gogh literally copied two of Hiroshige's prints from the famous series, 100 Famous Views of Edo in oil paint.