Hiroshige | Hakone no kosui, 36 Views of Mt. Fuji
歌川広重 Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858)
富士三十六景 はこ根の湖すい
Hakone no kosui, from the series of Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji
1858
木版画 | 纵绘大判 | 36cm x 25cm
Woodblock-print | Oban tate-e | 36cm x 25cm
早期的版次；品相非常好
Early impression; great condition
SOLD
提到“富士”与“三十六景”，大家首先想到的，应该都是北斋于1830-1832年间创作的那套横绘风景画《富岳三十六景》。毕竟，这是一套包含有《神奈川冲浪里》《山下白雨》《凯风快晴》等一众名品的神作。但大多数人并不了解的是，广重也曾创作过名为《富士三十六景》的风景画系列，并且还有两套：一套为1852年创作的中判横绘；另一套则为1858年创作，1859年广重逝世后发行的大判纵绘，即本作来源。芦之湖，位于神奈川县足柄下郡箱根町，是一座形成于大约三千年前的火山口湖。此湖周边风景秀丽，湖水终年不冻，自古以来就是观赏富士山的胜地，同时亦是垂钓者的天堂，一年四季，游人如织。1851年前后，沿着东海道一路旅行的广重到达箱根地区，并在芦之湖畔绘制了一幅写生。这幅写生据信是1852年出版的横绘风景画系列《不二三十六景》中《箱根山中湖水》的草图，同时也可视为本作的底本。重峦叠嶂，山山相连，箱根宿的高海拔与奇绝地貌，成就了它东海道“最难行旅”宿场的名号。本作中如波浪般起伏的群山，便是箱根的最真实样貌。只见碧蓝的湖水中，土黄的山体覆盖着浓绿的植被，间或有数块怪石、几棵古松点缀。辽远的青空下，冰雪满身的富士巍然独秀。如此对比之下，旅人眼中的层层天堑显得如此渺小。广重对自然景色的驾驭，已是登峰造极。
This series, “36 Views of Mount Fuji,” was Hiroshige’s last – indeed, the prints were published after his death in a cholera epidemic in 1858. It was a vertical set of landscapes and harkened back to the greatest, most famous work of his predecessor, Hokusai, who’s own “36 Views of Mt. Fuji” is thought to have inspired Hiroshige to focus on the landscape genre. It is a fitting ending for the career of this great artist.
Not even 30 years had passed since Hokusai’s series, but the look and design of the two series could not have been different. While Hokusai’s horizontal designs are in a mute palette of blues and browns – indeed, the series began as a jizari (all-blue) design and retained the Prussian Blue lines in the key block – Hiroshige’s was bold and vibrant, with bright yellows and reds giving many of the prints an otherworldly feel.
In this print we are in Hakone, the famous hot-spring region about an hour from Tokyo. Lake Hakone provides a spectacular view of Mt. Fuji, even today. It is an imaginary view, as we seem to be flying like a bird in the sky.
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.