Hiroshige | Fukagawa Lumberyards, 100 Famous Views of Edo
Reserved
歌川広重 Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858)
名所江户百景 深川木场
Fukagawa Lumberyards, from the series of 100 Famous Views of Edo
1856
木版画 | 纵绘大判 | 36cm x 24cm
Woodblock-print | Oban tate-e | 36cm x 24cm
早期的版本、版次；有轻微褪色；上方边缘角落经修复
Early edition and impression; slight fading; upper corners restored
《名所江户百景》，是歌川广重于1856至1858年创作的竖版名所绘系列，为广重晚年乃至整个创作生涯中艺术水准最高的代表作之一。全系列包括目录在内共计119幅，以四季为主题，分为春夏秋冬四部。
本作属于其中的冬之部，描绘了今东京都江东区木场的旧日风景。顾名思义，江户时代的木场正是木材商们专用于贮存木料的场所。雀鸟翻飞，瑞雪飘飘，弯弯的水道流向远方，其中浸泡的排排原木，正在等待着时间的陈酿；两岸堆放的木料或斜或立，早已稳定了木性，随时等待着运输与取用。画面左下方，两只无惧严寒的小犬似乎在相互问候。是木场，亦是“山清水秀，风流雅致之地。”
值得一提的是，本作成画的时间正是安政大地震发生的后一年。彼时的江户城正处于重建热潮之中，这些画中的木料，很快就要化身为房柱、门板、雕栏与各类工具，悄无声息地融入人们的生活。
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.