Hiroshige | Aki Province: Itsukushima, Depiction of a Festival, Famous Places in the 60 Odd Provinces
歌川広重 Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858)
六十余州名所图会 安艺 严岛 祭祀之图
Aki Province: Itsukushima, Depiction of a Festival, from the series of Famous Places in the Sixty-Odd Provinces
1853
木版画 | 纵绘大判 | 36cm x 25cm
Woodblock-print | Oban tate-e | 36cm x 25cm
早期版次；颜色保存完好；边缘经轻微修剪
Early impression; good color; slight trimming to the margins.
SOLD
《六十余州名所图会》，是歌川广重于1853年至1856年创作的一套描绘日本名胜的竖绘风景画系列。全套共囊括了全日本五畿七道的68国及江户城的胜景，加上1页目录，共计70幅。整体画面远近关系明确，加之用色大胆、构图新颖，颇受后世好评。著名的《阿波 鸣门之风波（漩涡）》，即出自本系列。
安艺，即安芸，日本古令制国之一，旧国境约为今广岛县西部。其内的严岛神社有一间高逾16米的大鸟居格外壮观，被指定为日本国家重要文化财。
夜幕降临，华灯初上。每年旧历六月十七，伴随着涛声阵阵，人们都会在严岛神社举办隆重的管弦祭。华美的管弦船载着神舆凤辇，一边奏起雅乐，一边前往对岸的地御前神社周边，声势浩大，场面恢宏，无疑是全年宫岛神社最受关注的大事件。在描绘大鸟居时，广重充分发挥想象，将大鸟居的形象还原成了百年前的模样。彼时的鸟居主柱和袖柱还保留着原木的树皮，气质古朴粗犷，更显历史厚重。
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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.