Hiroshige | Harimaze-e: Harimaze Pictures of the Provinces, Yamashiro and Yamato
歌川広重 Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858)
张交绘：国尽张交图会 大和 吉野
Harimaze-e: Harimaze Pictures of the Provinces, Yamashiro and Yamato
1852
木版画 | 纵绘大判 | 38cm x 26cm
Woodblock | Oban tate-e｜ 38cm x 26cm
早期版次；颜色鲜艳；品相非常好
Fine impression, color and condition
$1,800
Harimaze-e – so-called past prints – featured several images together that were meant to be cut into pieces and used separately, whether pasted into albums or onto a screen. Thus, the already hugely economical act of buying an Ukiyoe Japanese woodblock print – roughly the price of two bowls of noodles – became even more affordable, as you were essentially buying 3-4 prints for the price of one.
Hiroshige produced several series in this charming format. Finding one that has not been cut to bits is rare, indeed. This example comes from “Pictures of the Provinces” from 1852 and is fascinating on several levels. It was published by Fujiokaya Keijirō and includes a total of 18 oban-sized examples. It came out just a few years before Hiroshige’s legendary “Famous Views from the 60-Odd Provinces” and, as it depicts many of the same spots, can almost be seen as a rough draft of that epic effort.
But also, unlike some earlier harimaze-e series, the quality of the printing is very high, with the level of fine bokashi you’d expect on a larger design, and the designs quite well thought-out. Taken together, they form a collage of sights from around the Japanese islands, with pleasingly varying shapes and sizes, all fitting together like a puzzle. Some feature expansive views, other little details that viewers would understand to represent certain locales. What a shame to cut them up!
Here we see snapshots from Yamishiro and Yamato. A Geisha is juxtaposed with sakura trees above a bubbling stream.
Interested in purchasing?
Please contact us.
歌川広重 Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858)
张交绘：国尽张交图会 大和 吉野
Harimaze-e: Harimaze Pictures of the Provinces, Yamashiro and Yamato
1852
木版画 | 纵绘大判 | 38cm x 26cm
Woodblock | Oban tate-e｜ 38cm x 26cm
早期版次；颜色鲜艳；品相非常好
Fine impression, color and condition
$1,800
Harimaze-e – so-called past prints – featured several images together that were meant to be cut into pieces and used separately, whether pasted into albums or onto a screen. Thus, the already hugely economical act of buying an Ukiyoe Japanese woodblock print – roughly the price of two bowls of noodles – became even more affordable, as you were essentially buying 3-4 prints for the price of one.
Hiroshige produced several series in this charming format. Finding one that has not been cut to bits is rare, indeed. This example comes from “Pictures of the Provinces” from 1852 and is fascinating on several levels. It was published by Fujiokaya Keijirō and includes a total of 18 oban-sized examples. It came out just a few years before Hiroshige’s legendary “Famous Views from the 60-Odd Provinces” and, as it depicts many of the same spots, can almost be seen as a rough draft of that epic effort.
But also, unlike some earlier harimaze-e series, the quality of the printing is very high, with the level of fine bokashi you’d expect on a larger design, and the designs quite well thought-out. Taken together, they form a collage of sights from around the Japanese islands, with pleasingly varying shapes and sizes, all fitting together like a puzzle. Some feature expansive views, other little details that viewers would understand to represent certain locales. What a shame to cut them up!
Here we see snapshots from Yamishiro and Yamato. A Geisha is juxtaposed with sakura trees above a bubbling stream.
Interested in purchasing?
Please contact us.
歌川広重 Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858)
张交绘：国尽张交图会 大和 吉野
Harimaze-e: Harimaze Pictures of the Provinces, Yamashiro and Yamato
1852
木版画 | 纵绘大判 | 38cm x 26cm
Woodblock | Oban tate-e｜ 38cm x 26cm
早期版次；颜色鲜艳；品相非常好
Fine impression, color and condition
$1,800
Harimaze-e – so-called past prints – featured several images together that were meant to be cut into pieces and used separately, whether pasted into albums or onto a screen. Thus, the already hugely economical act of buying an Ukiyoe Japanese woodblock print – roughly the price of two bowls of noodles – became even more affordable, as you were essentially buying 3-4 prints for the price of one.
Hiroshige produced several series in this charming format. Finding one that has not been cut to bits is rare, indeed. This example comes from “Pictures of the Provinces” from 1852 and is fascinating on several levels. It was published by Fujiokaya Keijirō and includes a total of 18 oban-sized examples. It came out just a few years before Hiroshige’s legendary “Famous Views from the 60-Odd Provinces” and, as it depicts many of the same spots, can almost be seen as a rough draft of that epic effort.
But also, unlike some earlier harimaze-e series, the quality of the printing is very high, with the level of fine bokashi you’d expect on a larger design, and the designs quite well thought-out. Taken together, they form a collage of sights from around the Japanese islands, with pleasingly varying shapes and sizes, all fitting together like a puzzle. Some feature expansive views, other little details that viewers would understand to represent certain locales. What a shame to cut them up!
Here we see snapshots from Yamishiro and Yamato. A Geisha is juxtaposed with sakura trees above a bubbling stream.
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.