Artist: Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) Japanese

Title: The Moon Crossing Bridge at Arashiyama in Yamashiro Province

Medium: Original Woodblock Print

Year: 1853 - 1856

Biography:
Hiroshige Utagawa grew up in a samurai family in Edo where both him and his father were in the fire service before being orphaned. Hiroshige’s first formal art 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 gave up his role in the fire department to focus entirely on painting and print design. He studied painting, intrigued by the Shijo school. Hiroshige’s artistic genius wasn’t recognized until 1832 when he became a master of the ukiyo-e woodblock printing tradition, creating 8000 prints in saturated color.

His series of woodblock prints of the Tokaido road connecting Edo to Kyoto was his breakthrough series known as The 53 Stations of the Tokaido (1832-1833). His most renowned series was known as 100 Famous Views of Edo which were produced as oil paintings. He used a diagonal composition and perspective in his work. He the everyday life of Japanese citizens during the Edo period and the beauty of the landscape. This piece comes from his series, “Famous Places in the Sixty Provinces”. They showcase some of renowned Hiroshige characteristics including his saturated blues, greens and pinks or his unique compositional style.

Hiroshige’s work had a profound influence on the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists of Europe including Toulouse-Lautrec Gaugin and Van Gogh working in the years after he died from the Edo cholera epidemic in 1858.