Hiroshige | Snow at Akabane Bridge in Shiba, from the series Famous Places in the Eastern Capital
歌川広重 Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858)
东都名所 芝赤羽根之雪
Snow at Akabane Bridge in Shiba, from the series Famous Places in the Eastern Capital
1837
木版画 | 横绘大判 | 25cm x 36.8cm
Woodblock-print | Oban Yoko-e | 25cm x 36.8cm
第二版次；品相完好；轻微黄化；边缘经修剪
Second edition; good condition; slight trimming and soiling
$2,200
在今东京都港区的古川上，有一座小小的赤羽桥。江户时期，赤羽桥周边的地区被称作赤羽川，一北一南，坐落着赫赫有名的增上寺与久留米藩有马家上屋敷。
每当冬季降临，雪花漫天飞扬，不消几时，积雪就能没过脚踝。古川河水缓缓流动，为画面刷上了一抹悠悠的深蓝。右侧河岸上，有马家上屋敷前，各色商贩和农人正踏雪往来；其内水天宫的红蓝二色旗帜，从屋顶上探出了半截身子。沿着对角线望去，现已不存的增上寺五重塔彼时宛如玉砌，半遮半掩地展现着它当年的玲珑体态。往日景观，旧时风物，岁月转瞬即逝，东都名所永驻。
It’s a frigid night by the Akabane Bridge in Shiba. The dark sky contrasts with the bright blue of the canal. A fire tower – crucial in Edo, where the houses were made of wood and paper and had glowing fire pits at their centers – stands watch to the right, creating a vertical contrast to the strongly rendered lines of diminishing perspective.
This is the second edition – the first would have a red seal in the margin on the lower right – and it’s one of Hiroshige’s most celebrated designs from Edo Meisho, or Famous Views of the Eastern Capital, which he produced throughout the 1840s.
This version has a tiny bit of soiling, and the margin trimmed on the left. But the reds and blues are rich. Some versions have more bokashi in the sky; this one is uniformly gray, further enhancing the enveloping feeling of deep winter chill.
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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.