Hiroshige | Fireworks at Ryogoku, 100 Famous Views of Edo
歌川広重 Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858)
名所江户百景 两国花火
Fireworks at Ryogoku, from the series of 100 Famous Views of Edo
1858
木版画 | 纵绘大判 | 35.8cm x 25.5cm
Woodblock-print | Oban tate-e | 35.8cm x 25.5cm
奢华版；非常早期的印刷带清晰的木纹和云母；颜色鲜艳；边缘经修剪
Deluxe edition; fine impression and color with beautiful woodgrain and mica; slight trimming to the margins
PRICE ON REQUEST
It’s a summer evening, and night has fallen on Edo. And so the fun begins. Desperate for relief from the sweltering heat, but also out for a good time, residents flock to the shores of the Sumida River and onto the river itself. Pleasure boats ride the current and dart in and out and among the pylons of graceful Ryogoku Bridge.
We’ve seen this bridge in many prints by Hiroshige, as well as Yoshitoshi and others.We are also familiar with the types of boats we see – such as the small yanebune with their slanted roofs and shoji screens that can be rented for an evening of food, fun and live music. Other small, oar-powered wooden boats weave in and out of this nautical traffic jam, selling snacks and drink.
But we rarely see this particular view, because it’s a view no human has seen at this point in history; maybe a bird, but never a person. While some suggest Hiroshige is providing the vantage point of a luxurious teahouse, it seems too high for that. Indeed, it’s almost as if we are up in the air with the fireworks.
And what a show it is! Many a night summertime Edo resonated with the boom of fireworks and the sparkling light they shined down upon on the lantern-lit city. (Let’s set aside for a moment whether this was a good idea in a city made of wood and paper.) This is one of the most famous prints from Hiroshige’s late-career masterpiece “100 Famous Views of Edo” and he embraces the series’ vertical format for all it’s worth. The fireworks, wonderfully printed, burst way, way up in the sky, dramatically contrasting dark heavens textured with rich woodgrain. They even seem to blast their way into the wonderfully elaborate title cartouche, a signature of this, the deluxe version of a marvelous print.
Interested in purchasing?
Please contact us.
歌川広重 Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858)
名所江户百景 两国花火
Fireworks at Ryogoku, from the series of 100 Famous Views of Edo
1858
木版画 | 纵绘大判 | 35.8cm x 25.5cm
Woodblock-print | Oban tate-e | 35.8cm x 25.5cm
奢华版；非常早期的印刷带清晰的木纹和云母；颜色鲜艳；边缘经修剪
Deluxe edition; fine impression and color with beautiful woodgrain and mica; slight trimming to the margins
PRICE ON REQUEST
It’s a summer evening, and night has fallen on Edo. And so the fun begins. Desperate for relief from the sweltering heat, but also out for a good time, residents flock to the shores of the Sumida River and onto the river itself. Pleasure boats ride the current and dart in and out and among the pylons of graceful Ryogoku Bridge.
We’ve seen this bridge in many prints by Hiroshige, as well as Yoshitoshi and others.We are also familiar with the types of boats we see – such as the small yanebune with their slanted roofs and shoji screens that can be rented for an evening of food, fun and live music. Other small, oar-powered wooden boats weave in and out of this nautical traffic jam, selling snacks and drink.
But we rarely see this particular view, because it’s a view no human has seen at this point in history; maybe a bird, but never a person. While some suggest Hiroshige is providing the vantage point of a luxurious teahouse, it seems too high for that. Indeed, it’s almost as if we are up in the air with the fireworks.
And what a show it is! Many a night summertime Edo resonated with the boom of fireworks and the sparkling light they shined down upon on the lantern-lit city. (Let’s set aside for a moment whether this was a good idea in a city made of wood and paper.) This is one of the most famous prints from Hiroshige’s late-career masterpiece “100 Famous Views of Edo” and he embraces the series’ vertical format for all it’s worth. The fireworks, wonderfully printed, burst way, way up in the sky, dramatically contrasting dark heavens textured with rich woodgrain. They even seem to blast their way into the wonderfully elaborate title cartouche, a signature of this, the deluxe version of a marvelous print.
Interested in purchasing?
Please contact us.
歌川広重 Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858)
名所江户百景 两国花火
Fireworks at Ryogoku, from the series of 100 Famous Views of Edo
1858
木版画 | 纵绘大判 | 35.8cm x 25.5cm
Woodblock-print | Oban tate-e | 35.8cm x 25.5cm
奢华版；非常早期的印刷带清晰的木纹和云母；颜色鲜艳；边缘经修剪
Deluxe edition; fine impression and color with beautiful woodgrain and mica; slight trimming to the margins
PRICE ON REQUEST
It’s a summer evening, and night has fallen on Edo. And so the fun begins. Desperate for relief from the sweltering heat, but also out for a good time, residents flock to the shores of the Sumida River and onto the river itself. Pleasure boats ride the current and dart in and out and among the pylons of graceful Ryogoku Bridge.
We’ve seen this bridge in many prints by Hiroshige, as well as Yoshitoshi and others.We are also familiar with the types of boats we see – such as the small yanebune with their slanted roofs and shoji screens that can be rented for an evening of food, fun and live music. Other small, oar-powered wooden boats weave in and out of this nautical traffic jam, selling snacks and drink.
But we rarely see this particular view, because it’s a view no human has seen at this point in history; maybe a bird, but never a person. While some suggest Hiroshige is providing the vantage point of a luxurious teahouse, it seems too high for that. Indeed, it’s almost as if we are up in the air with the fireworks.
And what a show it is! Many a night summertime Edo resonated with the boom of fireworks and the sparkling light they shined down upon on the lantern-lit city. (Let’s set aside for a moment whether this was a good idea in a city made of wood and paper.) This is one of the most famous prints from Hiroshige’s late-career masterpiece “100 Famous Views of Edo” and he embraces the series’ vertical format for all it’s worth. The fireworks, wonderfully printed, burst way, way up in the sky, dramatically contrasting dark heavens textured with rich woodgrain. They even seem to blast their way into the wonderfully elaborate title cartouche, a signature of this, the deluxe version of a marvelous print.
Interested in purchasing?
Please contact us.
Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858)
Ando Hiroshige (1897-1858) revolutionized the art of landscape prints during the Edo era, building on the success of his senior, Hokusai, but taking a more poetic and naturalist approach to portraying the beauty of Japan.
The son of a low-level Samurai assigned to the fire brigade in Edo, Hiroshige became a student of the Utagawa school as a young man. His first prints focused on beautiful women (bijin), and views of Edo. But in 1833 he began work on his most famous early work, his first series depicting the Tokaido, the "Great Sea Road" between Edo and Tokyo.
Today there is some controversy about this series. Initially, it was believed that Hiroshige had travelled the route along with a local lord (Daimyo) who was making a gift of horses to the Emperor. But more recent scholarship suggests Hiroshige never travelled the road himself, at least not the entire way, and made his designs using published guidebooks.
Nonetheless, the prints were wonderful and revolutionary. They embraced the seasons with a gentle lyricism missing from Hokusai's striking but stylized depictions. In Hiroshige's work, nature is sacred -- but it is always mixed with humanity, with travelers or little inns or bridges. There is a magical harmony between man and the elements.
His depiction of the seasons and weather is especially evocative. Snow blankets some views with a hushed silence, while rain streaks down furiously in others. In some prints natured is agitated; in others, calm prevails. Produced in a horizontal oban yoko-e format, the series was a smash hit.
The Tokaido series made Hiroshige famous, and he became incredible prolific. In the 1840s he produced many strong designs, but many mediocre ones, too, including several subsequent Tokaido series of varying quality.
In 1853, however, he made a big step. He turned his landscapes sideways, embracing a bold vertical oban tate-e format. This gave his designs new energy and a modern feel. The first of these was Famous Views of the Sixty-Odd Provinces. From them on, most of his most noted series were executed in this format.
He saved his greatest for his last. In 1856 he began work on 100 Famous Views of Edo, which many consider his most exceptional work. Here his home city was portrayed with energy and passion, and in these 119 designs he created an incredible record of a vanished place. In addition to the striking vertical format, he developed exciting new compositions, often juxtaposing a strong foreground element with a distant background.
Among the many famous images in this series are Squall at Ohashi and the Plum Garden in Komeido. Both of these were copied by Vincent Van Gogh, a great admirer of Hiroshige. Thus, the great Japanese artist had a profound effect on Western art.
Alas, his beloved Edo ended his life. Hiroshige was claimed by a cholera epidemic that swept the city in 1958. His pupil Shigenobu, who took the name Hiroshige II, completed The Famous Views of Edo.