Kuniyoshi | Four Stations: Hodogaya, Totsuka, Fujisawa, and Hiratsuka, Famous Views of the Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido Road
歌川国芳 Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798–1861)
东海道五拾三駅五宿名所 程ヶ谷、戸塚、藤沢、平塚
Four Stations: Hodogaya, Totsuka, Fujisawa, and Hiratsuka, from the series of Famous Views of the Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido Road
1835
木版画 | 横绘大判 | 25.8cm x 36.5cm
Woodblock-print | Oban Yoko-e | 25.8cm x 36.5cm
早期版次；颜色鲜艳；品相非常好
Fine impression and colour and condition
$9,500
自广重推出了著名的《东海道五十三次之内》后，从江户到京都的东海道之旅就被无数日本民众提上日程。为了抓住难得的时代红利，精明的出版商们立即聘请歌川国芳创作一套全新的东海道风景绘系列。这位已凭借水浒传系列名满天下的鬼才艺术家匠心独具，最终采取了一种在浮世绘史上独一无二的设计——他并未简单地独立画出每一个宿场，而是精心绘制了12张作品，每张都包含有一处风景名胜及沿途的数个宿场。如此超前的构图将单一的画面扩容了数倍，并为后世浮世绘画家提供了宝贵的灵感来源。直至今日，依旧给观者以独特的审美体验。
日程谷、户塚、藤泽与平塚依次是东海道五十三次中的第四到第七处宿场，原址皆位于今神奈川县境内。与系列中的大多数作品不同，在本作中，国芳使用较为沉郁灰暗的色调，以剪影的方式刻画了远景中的连绵群山，版画味十足。几缕夜雾弥散，为画面增添了几分神秘之感。前景的中部，一株呈“V”字的树杈斜亘上下，视觉效果极为强烈，直直地将观者视线引导向左下角的巡行队伍。只见大家伙热热闹闹、恭恭敬敬地抬着神舆、架着灯笼缓步向山上走去，想必是筹备已久。而从最两端露出的几个半边斗笠来看，这支队伍肯定还在延绵。有信仰的人们，定能跨越万水千山。
Hiroshige’s Hoeido Tokaido series in the early 1830s helped make the landscape genre extraordinarily popular. This was a time of peace and prosperity in Edo Japan and, while laws were restrictive, travelling became a fad, if you could find a way to do it. Pilgrimages were one solution, and the weeks-long journey along the Tokaido, the Great Sea Road, from Edo to Kyoto was dream of many.
Racing to capitalize on this, the publishers Tsuruya Kihei and Tsutaya Kichizô engaged Kuniyoshi (at this point using the first name Ichiyusai) to do his own Tokaido series. But the great artist didn’t just parrot Hiroshige, he came up with his own approach. Rather than design a print for each of the 53 stops – or “stations” – on the road, he produced 12 prints that included views of several stations in each. To do this, he picked a famous view, often adding some local element in the foreground, and then marked the towns along the way with cartouches in the distance. This was unusual in one sense and traditional in another, because this format produced an effect not unlike viewing a scroll. And it certainly made it easier for his fans to collect them all. These prints are scarce, and Art of Ukiyoe is proud to offer seven of them.
Here we see four stations -- Hodogaya, Totsuka, Fujisawa and Hiratsuka. Well, not quite: yellow cartouches alert us to their relative positions in the distant mountains. It's the striking foreground that makes this print one of the best in the series: a group of boisterous pilgrims enjoy their once-in-a-lifetime journey, and the composition is dramatically divided and simplified by two pine trees in the foreground.
Partial citation: Along the Tokaido: Twelve Views by Utagawa Kuniyoshi by Amy Poster (Brooklyn Museum; 1977)
Interested in purchasing?
Please contact us.
歌川国芳 Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798–1861)
东海道五拾三駅五宿名所 程ヶ谷、戸塚、藤沢、平塚
Four Stations: Hodogaya, Totsuka, Fujisawa, and Hiratsuka, from the series of Famous Views of the Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido Road
1835
木版画 | 横绘大判 | 25.8cm x 36.5cm
Woodblock-print | Oban Yoko-e | 25.8cm x 36.5cm
早期版次；颜色鲜艳；品相非常好
Fine impression and colour and condition
$9,500
自广重推出了著名的《东海道五十三次之内》后，从江户到京都的东海道之旅就被无数日本民众提上日程。为了抓住难得的时代红利，精明的出版商们立即聘请歌川国芳创作一套全新的东海道风景绘系列。这位已凭借水浒传系列名满天下的鬼才艺术家匠心独具，最终采取了一种在浮世绘史上独一无二的设计——他并未简单地独立画出每一个宿场，而是精心绘制了12张作品，每张都包含有一处风景名胜及沿途的数个宿场。如此超前的构图将单一的画面扩容了数倍，并为后世浮世绘画家提供了宝贵的灵感来源。直至今日，依旧给观者以独特的审美体验。
日程谷、户塚、藤泽与平塚依次是东海道五十三次中的第四到第七处宿场，原址皆位于今神奈川县境内。与系列中的大多数作品不同，在本作中，国芳使用较为沉郁灰暗的色调，以剪影的方式刻画了远景中的连绵群山，版画味十足。几缕夜雾弥散，为画面增添了几分神秘之感。前景的中部，一株呈“V”字的树杈斜亘上下，视觉效果极为强烈，直直地将观者视线引导向左下角的巡行队伍。只见大家伙热热闹闹、恭恭敬敬地抬着神舆、架着灯笼缓步向山上走去，想必是筹备已久。而从最两端露出的几个半边斗笠来看，这支队伍肯定还在延绵。有信仰的人们，定能跨越万水千山。
Hiroshige’s Hoeido Tokaido series in the early 1830s helped make the landscape genre extraordinarily popular. This was a time of peace and prosperity in Edo Japan and, while laws were restrictive, travelling became a fad, if you could find a way to do it. Pilgrimages were one solution, and the weeks-long journey along the Tokaido, the Great Sea Road, from Edo to Kyoto was dream of many.
Racing to capitalize on this, the publishers Tsuruya Kihei and Tsutaya Kichizô engaged Kuniyoshi (at this point using the first name Ichiyusai) to do his own Tokaido series. But the great artist didn’t just parrot Hiroshige, he came up with his own approach. Rather than design a print for each of the 53 stops – or “stations” – on the road, he produced 12 prints that included views of several stations in each. To do this, he picked a famous view, often adding some local element in the foreground, and then marked the towns along the way with cartouches in the distance. This was unusual in one sense and traditional in another, because this format produced an effect not unlike viewing a scroll. And it certainly made it easier for his fans to collect them all. These prints are scarce, and Art of Ukiyoe is proud to offer seven of them.
Here we see four stations -- Hodogaya, Totsuka, Fujisawa and Hiratsuka. Well, not quite: yellow cartouches alert us to their relative positions in the distant mountains. It's the striking foreground that makes this print one of the best in the series: a group of boisterous pilgrims enjoy their once-in-a-lifetime journey, and the composition is dramatically divided and simplified by two pine trees in the foreground.
Partial citation: Along the Tokaido: Twelve Views by Utagawa Kuniyoshi by Amy Poster (Brooklyn Museum; 1977)
Interested in purchasing?
Please contact us.
歌川国芳 Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798–1861)
东海道五拾三駅五宿名所 程ヶ谷、戸塚、藤沢、平塚
Four Stations: Hodogaya, Totsuka, Fujisawa, and Hiratsuka, from the series of Famous Views of the Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido Road
1835
木版画 | 横绘大判 | 25.8cm x 36.5cm
Woodblock-print | Oban Yoko-e | 25.8cm x 36.5cm
早期版次；颜色鲜艳；品相非常好
Fine impression and colour and condition
$9,500
自广重推出了著名的《东海道五十三次之内》后，从江户到京都的东海道之旅就被无数日本民众提上日程。为了抓住难得的时代红利，精明的出版商们立即聘请歌川国芳创作一套全新的东海道风景绘系列。这位已凭借水浒传系列名满天下的鬼才艺术家匠心独具，最终采取了一种在浮世绘史上独一无二的设计——他并未简单地独立画出每一个宿场，而是精心绘制了12张作品，每张都包含有一处风景名胜及沿途的数个宿场。如此超前的构图将单一的画面扩容了数倍，并为后世浮世绘画家提供了宝贵的灵感来源。直至今日，依旧给观者以独特的审美体验。
日程谷、户塚、藤泽与平塚依次是东海道五十三次中的第四到第七处宿场，原址皆位于今神奈川县境内。与系列中的大多数作品不同，在本作中，国芳使用较为沉郁灰暗的色调，以剪影的方式刻画了远景中的连绵群山，版画味十足。几缕夜雾弥散，为画面增添了几分神秘之感。前景的中部，一株呈“V”字的树杈斜亘上下，视觉效果极为强烈，直直地将观者视线引导向左下角的巡行队伍。只见大家伙热热闹闹、恭恭敬敬地抬着神舆、架着灯笼缓步向山上走去，想必是筹备已久。而从最两端露出的几个半边斗笠来看，这支队伍肯定还在延绵。有信仰的人们，定能跨越万水千山。
Hiroshige’s Hoeido Tokaido series in the early 1830s helped make the landscape genre extraordinarily popular. This was a time of peace and prosperity in Edo Japan and, while laws were restrictive, travelling became a fad, if you could find a way to do it. Pilgrimages were one solution, and the weeks-long journey along the Tokaido, the Great Sea Road, from Edo to Kyoto was dream of many.
Racing to capitalize on this, the publishers Tsuruya Kihei and Tsutaya Kichizô engaged Kuniyoshi (at this point using the first name Ichiyusai) to do his own Tokaido series. But the great artist didn’t just parrot Hiroshige, he came up with his own approach. Rather than design a print for each of the 53 stops – or “stations” – on the road, he produced 12 prints that included views of several stations in each. To do this, he picked a famous view, often adding some local element in the foreground, and then marked the towns along the way with cartouches in the distance. This was unusual in one sense and traditional in another, because this format produced an effect not unlike viewing a scroll. And it certainly made it easier for his fans to collect them all. These prints are scarce, and Art of Ukiyoe is proud to offer seven of them.
Here we see four stations -- Hodogaya, Totsuka, Fujisawa and Hiratsuka. Well, not quite: yellow cartouches alert us to their relative positions in the distant mountains. It's the striking foreground that makes this print one of the best in the series: a group of boisterous pilgrims enjoy their once-in-a-lifetime journey, and the composition is dramatically divided and simplified by two pine trees in the foreground.
Partial citation: Along the Tokaido: Twelve Views by Utagawa Kuniyoshi by Amy Poster (Brooklyn Museum; 1977)
Interested in purchasing?
Please contact us.
Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798–1861)
Warriors, ghosts, crabs and cats.
The woodblock print designs of Utagawa Kuniyoshi, one of Ukiyo-e’s most vibrant and creative 19th Century masters, encompass more than that – he depicted landscapes and beautiful women, too – but those are the first genres that come to mind when contemplating this wonderful and eccentric genius and his sprawling, timeless body of work.
From an early age, the young Kuniyoshi was fascinated by drama and history – with a big helping of the supernatural. He loved nature and animals, too – especially cats: again and again they pop up in designs throughout his career (adding a premium to the prices those woodblock prints fetch today). Starting out as a relatively traditional student of the Utagawa school, he soon developed his hugely energetic style, full of dynamic action, and eventually passed it on to his many students – Yoshitoshi being the most famous. Along with Kunisada and Hiroshige, he was among the most prolific of all Ukiyo-e artists.
He was born Yoshisaburō on January 1, 1798 to a silk dyer. Some say his father’s rich patterns influenced his bold, colorful designs. He always loved legends and history. By age 12 he had shown a talent for drawing and become a student of the great Toyokuni, who gave him the name Kuniyoshi. He also studied the Tosa, Kano and Maruyama painting styles.
It took awhile for him to find his place in the thriving Ukiyo-e world. Then in the 1820s he produced his first epic warrior triptychs, and his career success was assured. He often gave legendary heroes fanciful and intricate tattoos of his own design, starting a style craze in Edo.
He eventually expanded genres to include animal studies and landscapes. His wonderful oban yoko-e series of “Famous Views of the Eastern Capital” is especially interesting for its use of Western motifs, such as shadows, billowing clouds and a low vantage point to create atmospheric perspective. While these efforts weren’t always entirely successful, they still resulted in wonderfully lively Ukiyo-e designs.
In all, he produced nearly 250 series for 150 publishers.
During the Tempo reforms of the 1840s, which dramatically censured woodblock prints, he boldly skirted rules barring depictions of actors by putting their faces on various animals, such as turtles.
He died at the age of 63 in April 1861 in his home in Genyadana.
Partial citation: Marks, Andreas, Japanese Woodblock Prints, Artists, Publishers and Masterworks: 1680-1900 (Tuttle; 2010)