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Hiroshige (1797 - 1858)

Kanbara

Series: 53 Stations of the Tokaido - Hoeido
Medium: Woodblock Print
Date: c. 1832-1833
Size (H x W): 9.63 x 13.5 (inches)
Publisher: Hoeido
Signature: Hiroshige ga
Condition: Very good color and impression, light surface soiling, very light vertical fold, trimmed right and left margins.

SOLD

Description

The mountain village of Kanbara appears dark and chilly as night falls. Footprints dot the ankle-deep snow, only to be filled with fresh flakes. Hunched and heads bowed, travelers battle the wind. All is muffled in the final moments of dusk. Most scholars agree that Utagawa Hiroshige passed through Kanbara during the summer. What’s more, as part of modern Shimizu, this region is very temperate and even the smallest amount of snowfall is rare. In Hiroshige’s five renditions of this station he presents not the Kanbara of his travels, but that of his imagination. The Hoeido depiction of this station is considered one of the masterpieces of the series Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido. In Hiroshige’s own words, “Though there are many things that I have abbreviated, the composition is exactly like a true reflection of the scenery, so those who cannot travel can find some pleasure in them.” In 1996, the band Weezer based their Pinkerton album cover on this design.


Other impressions of this woodblock print can be found in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, British Museum, Library of Congress, Harvard Art Museum, Edo Tokyo Museum and Honolulu Museum of Art.

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.