Hokuju | View of Ryogoku Bridge in the Eastern Capital

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昇亭北壽 Shotei Hokuju (1763–1824)

东都两国之风景
View of Ryogoku Bridge in the Eastern Capital

1810-20

木版画 | 横绘大判 | 25cm x 37.5cm
Woodblock-print | Oban yoko -e | 25cm x 37.5cm

早期版本版次；颜色保存非常好；轻微裁切；画面有些许污渍；背面有一处残留的胶纸痕迹
Fine edition, impression and color; slight trimming; minor wear from aging; one piece tape residue verso.

$12,000

在江户风景画的早期探索中，升亭北寿是一位大胆而独特的存在。

他擅长以新颖的视角和写实的构图捕捉城市的生机，这幅《东都两国之风景》便是代表之一。画面取自极低的视点，桥身优雅的弧线在蓝天之下延伸向远方，桥上人流如织，桥下船舶往来，热闹的江户风情一览无遗。

最引人注目的，是北寿在画中对光线的描写——他以明亮的夏日阳光为线索，用摊棚投下的斜影和人物脚下拖长的影子，巧妙地表现出光线的方向。天空中堆叠的积云蓬松而轻盈，带着明显的西洋写实画风。这种透视与光影的尝试，在当时的浮世绘中极为罕见，也让画面多了一份立体与真实。

北寿是最早尝试在横版大判浮世绘中描绘风景的画师，他的探索为北斋与广重等后来者开启了新的创作方向。这幅作品不仅凝聚了他对西洋技法的敏锐理解，也展现了江户时代浮世绘走向风景题材的关键转折。

Shotei Hokuju was Hokusai’s most famous student, and even though the master’s reputation has loomed larger over the centuries, you can say that it was Hokuju who first embraced the full potential of landscapes in the oban yoko-e full color woodblock print format.

This view of Ryokogu Bridge, the longest in Edo, shows off both Hokuju’s skill and his use of Western techniques. We have an unusually low vantage point, accentuating – and perhaps exaggerating – the length of the bridge. Cumulous clouds, rarely seen in Ukiyoe, billow in the distance. And we see the gentle summer shadows of the bridge and of the food stalls on the near shore. Like those fluffy clouds, shadows were rare indeed in Ukiyoe.

Hokuju is believed to have been born in 1763, and joined Hokusai’s studio around 1793. His most famous works predated Hokusai’s. This early design is in fine condition, with minor wear from aging and minor trimming.

Interested in purchasing?
Please contact us.

昇亭北壽 Shotei Hokuju (1763–1824)

东都两国之风景
View of Ryogoku Bridge in the Eastern Capital

1810-20

木版画 | 横绘大判 | 25cm x 37.5cm
Woodblock-print | Oban yoko -e | 25cm x 37.5cm

早期版本版次；颜色保存非常好；轻微裁切；画面有些许污渍；背面有一处残留的胶纸痕迹
Fine edition, impression and color; slight trimming; minor wear from aging; one piece tape residue verso.

$12,000

在江户风景画的早期探索中，升亭北寿是一位大胆而独特的存在。

他擅长以新颖的视角和写实的构图捕捉城市的生机，这幅《东都两国之风景》便是代表之一。画面取自极低的视点，桥身优雅的弧线在蓝天之下延伸向远方，桥上人流如织，桥下船舶往来，热闹的江户风情一览无遗。

最引人注目的，是北寿在画中对光线的描写——他以明亮的夏日阳光为线索，用摊棚投下的斜影和人物脚下拖长的影子，巧妙地表现出光线的方向。天空中堆叠的积云蓬松而轻盈，带着明显的西洋写实画风。这种透视与光影的尝试，在当时的浮世绘中极为罕见，也让画面多了一份立体与真实。

北寿是最早尝试在横版大判浮世绘中描绘风景的画师，他的探索为北斋与广重等后来者开启了新的创作方向。这幅作品不仅凝聚了他对西洋技法的敏锐理解，也展现了江户时代浮世绘走向风景题材的关键转折。

Shotei Hokuju was Hokusai’s most famous student, and even though the master’s reputation has loomed larger over the centuries, you can say that it was Hokuju who first embraced the full potential of landscapes in the oban yoko-e full color woodblock print format.

This view of Ryokogu Bridge, the longest in Edo, shows off both Hokuju’s skill and his use of Western techniques. We have an unusually low vantage point, accentuating – and perhaps exaggerating – the length of the bridge. Cumulous clouds, rarely seen in Ukiyoe, billow in the distance. And we see the gentle summer shadows of the bridge and of the food stalls on the near shore. Like those fluffy clouds, shadows were rare indeed in Ukiyoe.

Hokuju is believed to have been born in 1763, and joined Hokusai’s studio around 1793. His most famous works predated Hokusai’s. This early design is in fine condition, with minor wear from aging and minor trimming.

Interested in purchasing?
Please contact us.

Shotei Hokuju (1763–1824)

Was Shotei Hokuju, perhaps Hokusai’s most famous student, the stylistic father of… Pablo Picasso?

Not really, but in his uniquely conjured works, we see many hints of modern art, such as cubism and an almost abstract approach to landscapes and the humans who live within them. We also see many broader attributes of Western art, such as perspective, shadows and billowing clouds. These elements display a fertile artistic mind striving for something new. And all this is the early mid-period of Ukiyoe.

Hokuju is believed to have been born in 1763, and joined Hokusai’s studio around 1793. His most famous works – including “True Depiction of the Monkey Bridge In Kay Province” – predated the master’s most notable designs, though of course they never garnered as much fame.

This print includes Western-style clouds, and throughout his career, one example of Hokuju experimenting with Western concepts. Where he saw them is hard to determine, since they were banned in Edo-period Japan at the time, and one suspects the exposure to them was fleeting, because he didn’t quite master all the techniques, such as perspective and use of vanishing points.

But these imperfections only add to the pleasure of his work, capturing the moment when someone was happily wrestling with new ideas. He was not hugely prolific: in addition to prints, almost all of them landscapes, he designed surimono and at least one illustrated book.

Shotei Hokuju died in 1824.