Hiroshige | Plum Garden, Kamata, 100 Famous Views of Edo
歌川広重 Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858)
名所江户百景 蒲田之梅园
Plum Garden, Kamata, from the series of 100 Famous Views of Edo
1857
木版画 | 纵绘大判 | 36.3cm x 24.5cm
Woodblock-print | Oban tate-e | 36.3cm x 24.5cm
早期的版本版次；颜色鲜艳；整体品相非常好；画面顶部的紫色颜料轻微褪色
Early edition and impression; strong color; the purple color on top is slightly faded, otherwise in great condition.
Reserved
This depiction of a beloved plum garden in Edo may not be as famous as Hiroshige’s closeup portrait of the “Sleeping Giant Plum” at Kameido – which is, after all, among the most famous of Japanese woodblock prints, thanks to Vincent van Gogh – but it shares several attributes with that design.
Here we are, in the pink gloaming, enjoying the jagged lines of the plum trees and their delicate blossoms, relaxing in a tea house. Here we see Hiroshige’s remarkable skill at portraying these otherworldly trees with their curving branches, though at a more traditional distance than in the sleeping giant print. And again, it is a warmish spring evening.
But like many designs in “100 Famous Views of Edo,” we also have a surprising composition. A palanquin fills the space to the lower right, seemingly suspended in mid-air, but with no one aboard. The scholar Henry D. Smith, in the Brooklyn Museum catalogue of this series, suggests that this unusual perspective could be the result of Hiroshige basing his design on a photograph. (Photography was just becoming known in Edo; it would soon supplant ukiyoe.) It makes sense, as a camera would emphasize the foreground-background contrasts more than the artist’s naked eye.
In any event, let’s have a cup of tea and enjoy the plum blossoms as we contemplate this theory.
Interested in purchasing?
Please contact us.
歌川広重 Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858)
名所江户百景 蒲田之梅园
Plum Garden, Kamata, from the series of 100 Famous Views of Edo
1857
木版画 | 纵绘大判 | 36.3cm x 24.5cm
Woodblock-print | Oban tate-e | 36.3cm x 24.5cm
早期的版本版次；颜色鲜艳；整体品相非常好；画面顶部的紫色颜料轻微褪色
Early edition and impression; strong color; the purple color on top is slightly faded, otherwise in great condition.
Reserved
This depiction of a beloved plum garden in Edo may not be as famous as Hiroshige’s closeup portrait of the “Sleeping Giant Plum” at Kameido – which is, after all, among the most famous of Japanese woodblock prints, thanks to Vincent van Gogh – but it shares several attributes with that design.
Here we are, in the pink gloaming, enjoying the jagged lines of the plum trees and their delicate blossoms, relaxing in a tea house. Here we see Hiroshige’s remarkable skill at portraying these otherworldly trees with their curving branches, though at a more traditional distance than in the sleeping giant print. And again, it is a warmish spring evening.
But like many designs in “100 Famous Views of Edo,” we also have a surprising composition. A palanquin fills the space to the lower right, seemingly suspended in mid-air, but with no one aboard. The scholar Henry D. Smith, in the Brooklyn Museum catalogue of this series, suggests that this unusual perspective could be the result of Hiroshige basing his design on a photograph. (Photography was just becoming known in Edo; it would soon supplant ukiyoe.) It makes sense, as a camera would emphasize the foreground-background contrasts more than the artist’s naked eye.
In any event, let’s have a cup of tea and enjoy the plum blossoms as we contemplate this theory.
Interested in purchasing?
Please contact us.
歌川広重 Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858)
名所江户百景 蒲田之梅园
Plum Garden, Kamata, from the series of 100 Famous Views of Edo
1857
木版画 | 纵绘大判 | 36.3cm x 24.5cm
Woodblock-print | Oban tate-e | 36.3cm x 24.5cm
早期的版本版次；颜色鲜艳；整体品相非常好；画面顶部的紫色颜料轻微褪色
Early edition and impression; strong color; the purple color on top is slightly faded, otherwise in great condition.
Reserved
This depiction of a beloved plum garden in Edo may not be as famous as Hiroshige’s closeup portrait of the “Sleeping Giant Plum” at Kameido – which is, after all, among the most famous of Japanese woodblock prints, thanks to Vincent van Gogh – but it shares several attributes with that design.
Here we are, in the pink gloaming, enjoying the jagged lines of the plum trees and their delicate blossoms, relaxing in a tea house. Here we see Hiroshige’s remarkable skill at portraying these otherworldly trees with their curving branches, though at a more traditional distance than in the sleeping giant print. And again, it is a warmish spring evening.
But like many designs in “100 Famous Views of Edo,” we also have a surprising composition. A palanquin fills the space to the lower right, seemingly suspended in mid-air, but with no one aboard. The scholar Henry D. Smith, in the Brooklyn Museum catalogue of this series, suggests that this unusual perspective could be the result of Hiroshige basing his design on a photograph. (Photography was just becoming known in Edo; it would soon supplant ukiyoe.) It makes sense, as a camera would emphasize the foreground-background contrasts more than the artist’s naked eye.
In any event, let’s have a cup of tea and enjoy the plum blossoms as we contemplate this theory.
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.