Hiroshige II | Nakanomachi, Yoshiwara, Famous Places in the Eastern Capital
二代目歌川広重 Utagawa Hiroshige II (active 1826–1869)
东都名所 吉原仲之町
Nakanomachi, Yoshiwara, from the series Famous Places in the Eastern Capital
1862
木版画 | 横绘大判 | 24.8cm x 36.3cm
Woodblock-print | Oban yoko-e | 24.8cm x 36.3cm
非常早期的版次；颜色鲜艳；有托底；轻微中间折痕
Very early impression; strong color; backed; slight centerfold
$3,800
作为江户时代最繁荣的游乐之所，吉原不仅可供万千江户子释放天性、尽情玩闹，更为一众艺术家贡献了无数创作灵感。单以广重论，其一生就至少创作有52幅以吉原为题材的作品。其中的《东都名所 吉原仲之町夜樱》更是被历代藏家与艺术爱好者们视为杰作中的杰作，久负盛名。
在本作中，二代广重选择了致敬先师，同样以贯穿吉原游廓的中心街道仲之町入画。月近中天，浮云渐散，白樱绽放枝头的晚间，与吉原气质最相得益彰。正对的江户町一丁目大门前人来人往，盛装的游女在新造与秃的簇拥下摇曳生姿，面带微笑的主顾轻摇折扇赏美景更赏美人。在描绘道路两旁联排的茶屋等建筑时，二代广重显然是在熟练运用透视法、强调对称的同时，进行了一定的夸张处理，以求更大程度上凸显出建筑物的体量感。最终呈现的效果，与广重在二十年前创作的那幅《东都名所之内 新吉原仁和歌之图》如出一辙。继承与发扬，即在樱开樱谢、月升月落之间。
When Prussian blue arrived in Edo-era Japan, it was the hottest new thing in Ukiyoe world. Rich and stubborn, it didn’t fade like earlier dyes, and it gave birth to a new style of print, the aizuri-e, or “blueprint.” Woodblock artists would create entire designs using this one color, creating values by varying the levels of saturation and the bokashi. Hokusai’s “36 Views of Mount Fuji” includes several designs that rely so much on Prussian blue that they nearly qualify as aizuri-e themselves.
This Hiroshige II view of Yoshiwara, Edo’s fabled pleasure district, dates from 1862. It takes the classic aizuri-e and adds bold reds – reds as striking as the inner skirts of the more tawdry sex workers in this nocturnal land of sensual amusements. Yoshiwara was heavily regulated by the government; this print shows the entrance. Heavy wooden gates were locked during the day. Yoshiwara was a nighttime world only.
But what a world it was, and to my mind this print captures it like few others. Geishas in red glide by regally, led by lantern-carrying attendants, trailed by young maikos, or geishas-in-training. Revelers arrive for a night of carnal fun; some are already enjoying themselves on second-floor balconies. The perspective seems to go on and on forever, just like the hopes of customers with cash in the sleeves of their kimonos when the night has just begun and anything could still happen.
Interested in purchasing?
Please contact us.
Utagawa Hiroshige II (active 1826-1869)
Born Chinpei Suzuki in 1826, Hiroshige II was given the name of Shigenobu after becoming one of Hiroshige’s very few students. In his career he hewed so closely to the master’s style, focusing on landscapes and the romantic interactions between human beings and the natural world, that it’s hard to determine whether he had a style of his own. He had a firm grasp of composition and color, yes, but the quality of his lines didn’t always match that of his teacher. (On occasion his people look sadly like stick figures.)
He took the name Hiroshige II after marrying Hiroshige’s 16-year-old daughter, Otatsu. He even completed his father-in-law’s final series – at least one, and possibly two, prints in “100 Famous Views of Edo” are attributed to Hiroshige II, done presumably after Hiroshige’s death in 1858.
But Hiroshige II produced some memorable works of his own, especially in the magnificent, “100 Famous Views of the Provinces” which he designed between 1859 and 1862. This includes “Kintai Bridge at Iwakuni in Suo Province,” which shows this legendary bridge of stone spans slashing across the paper on a left-to-right downward diagonal, a mirror of Hiroshige’s famed “Squall at Ohashi.”
During the time this series was produced, woodblock printing technology reached its zenith, and the printing quality of some of his prints is extraordinary. The “Deluxe” editions of these include wonderfully elaborate cartouches.
In the 1860s Hiroshige II was extremely prolific, including contributing to the “Processional Tokaido” with practically every other major Ukiyo-e artist of the day. Other series of varying quality focused on Edo and its environs. He was, like his teacher, especially adept at rain and snow scenes – some of his rain views, such as in “Eight Views of the Sumida River” in 1861, give a sense of a sudden downpour that is perhaps even more palpable than those of Hiroshige’s.
As this was just at the time of the “opening” of Japan, many of these prints are notable for the glimpses of western culture they provide, including ominous “Black Ships” riding at anchor, and Western men with giant noses, bushy eyebrows and ridiculous mustaches and beards, which the Japanese of the time must have found fascinating – amusing? – indeed.
Alas, things didn’t work out too well for our friend Hiroshige II. He and Otatsu divorced and he fell into alcoholism. He was last known to earn a meagre sum by decorating lanterns, kites and tea chests.
As for Otatsu, well, she married another painter and student of her late father’s named Goto Torakichi, who became Hiroshige III.
One woman, two Hiroshiges. Honestly, I’d like to know more about her – she sounds like a real number.