Subject: Japanese woodblock. Hiroshige I.
Publisher: Yuyudo, c. 1960.
Dimensions: 22.5 x 35 cm (block). 25 x 38 cm (paper).
Condition: Excellent condition.
Notes: A beautiful depiction of Shinobazu Pond in Ueno, with its surface covered in lotus blossoms and water lilies. Several workers in boats are gathering plants, while a young boy poles a boat in the foreground. A narrow pathway with an arched bridge leads to an island featuring a shrine and teahouses overlooking the pond. Cranes take flight on the right as yellow-hued clouds drift across the scene. A charming design rarely seen in reprints.
Edition: Deluxe edition. A finely printed, large-format woodblock print.
Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858): The artistic pseudonym of Andō Tokutarō, Hiroshige was a Japanese painter associated with the Utagawa school, one of the most renowned in the ukiyo-e style. A leading exponent of Japanese landscape painting, Hiroshige elevated the genre to new artistic heights. His Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō series, depicting the road connecting the shogun's capital with the imperial capital, was a landmark in his career. Subsequently, he focused on landscapes, often in series about cities, lakes, routes, or nature. Hiroshige solidified landscape painting as an independent genre and captured the natural beauty of his country with poetic sensitivity. His works, characterized by softness, lyricism, and meticulous detail, exerted a profound influence in the West, inspiring Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artists such as Manet, Van Gogh, Monet, Degas, and Cézanne. Utagawa Hiroshige passed away in Edo on October 12, 1858.