歌川芳虎 Utagawa Yoshitora (active 1850-1870)
美国 乘热气球游乐
“America”: Enjoying Hot Air Balloons
1867
木版画 | 三联续绘-纵绘大判 | 37cm x 25.3cm x 3
Woodblock-print | Triptych-Oban-tate-e | 37cm x 25.3cm x 3
早期版次；颜色鲜艳；品相非常好
Fine impression, color and condition
$3,500
Imagine 1867 Japan: the nation had recently “opened” and all things Western were cause for amazement and fascination – clothing, architecture, steamships, you name it. And most of all: what was it like where these odd Westerners with their big noses and silly mustaches came from?
At the same time, as the world evolved and turned, people from all corners of the planet looked skyward. Flight was perhaps humankind’s most ambitious dream: Oh, to cast off the shackles of gravity and soar like the birds!
In this remarkable triptych, Utagawa Yoshitora ties it all together. We see the United States as he imagined it to be, and he tosses in three hot-air balloons for good measure.
The one on the right is especially huge, almost filling the entire sheet, with people in baskets waving the Stars and Stripes; In the distance, two other balloons rise. In the center, a huge American flag unfurls in the wind, with men and women on the terrace looking up. Several other “foreigners” can be seen on the left: men with beards, women in fitted long dresses.
Of course, like the vast majority of Japanese at that point, Yoshitora had never been to the United States, so he could only search for clues from foreign books, prints, and scattered information that had entered Japan at the time, and then piece them together. Nor had he seen a balloon. It would be 10 years before this famous balloon flight in Japan.
Yoshitora was one of several late ukiyoe artists who produced imagined depictions of foreign lands, such as this wonderful view of “London” by Yoshimori.
This might not be an accurate description of America in 1867 – far from it – but it is an accurate description of what the Japanese thought America was like in 1867, and is all the more fascinating for that reason.
1867年，歌川芳虎画下了他想象中的美国。此时距离横滨开港还不到十年，外国人的服饰、西洋建筑、蒸汽船，以及来自海外的各种新鲜事物，正不断进入日本人的视野。
画面围绕一场热气球游乐展开，空中与地面都挤满了值得观看的细节。最抢眼的是三只升上天空的热气球。右边一只尤其巨大，几乎撑满整张画面，吊篮里的人手持星条旗；远处另外两只气球也已经升空。中间一面巨大的美国国旗迎风展开，露台上的男女抬头观看。左边则画着几位外国人，男人留着胡须，女人穿着束腰长裙，连建筑的门窗、栏杆和室内陈设都带着浓厚的西洋味道。
芳虎本人并没有去过美国，只能从当时传入日本的外国书籍、版画和零散信息中寻找线索，再按照自己的理解将它们组合起来。热气球、星条旗、西洋建筑和衣着华丽的外国男女，就这样全部聚到了一起。
这也是这幅画今天看来最有趣的地方。它不一定能告诉我们1867年的美国是什么样子，却留下了1867年的日本人以为美国是什么样子。在一个大多数人根本没有机会亲自出国的年代，芳虎的浮世绘就像一扇窗口——窗外未必完全真实，却足够新鲜，让人忍不住想多看几眼。
歌川芳虎 Utagawa Yoshitora (active 1850-1870)
美国 乘热气球游乐
“America”: Enjoying Hot Air Balloons
1867
木版画 | 三联续绘-纵绘大判 | 37cm x 25.3cm x 3
Woodblock-print | Triptych-Oban-tate-e | 37cm x 25.3cm x 3
早期版次；颜色鲜艳；品相非常好
Fine impression, color and condition
$3,500
Imagine 1867 Japan: the nation had recently “opened” and all things Western were cause for amazement and fascination – clothing, architecture, steamships, you name it. And most of all: what was it like where these odd Westerners with their big noses and silly mustaches came from?
At the same time, as the world evolved and turned, people from all corners of the planet looked skyward. Flight was perhaps humankind’s most ambitious dream: Oh, to cast off the shackles of gravity and soar like the birds!
In this remarkable triptych, Utagawa Yoshitora ties it all together. We see the United States as he imagined it to be, and he tosses in three hot-air balloons for good measure.
The one on the right is especially huge, almost filling the entire sheet, with people in baskets waving the Stars and Stripes; In the distance, two other balloons rise. In the center, a huge American flag unfurls in the wind, with men and women on the terrace looking up. Several other “foreigners” can be seen on the left: men with beards, women in fitted long dresses.
Of course, like the vast majority of Japanese at that point, Yoshitora had never been to the United States, so he could only search for clues from foreign books, prints, and scattered information that had entered Japan at the time, and then piece them together. Nor had he seen a balloon. It would be 10 years before this famous balloon flight in Japan.
Yoshitora was one of several late ukiyoe artists who produced imagined depictions of foreign lands, such as this wonderful view of “London” by Yoshimori.
This might not be an accurate description of America in 1867 – far from it – but it is an accurate description of what the Japanese thought America was like in 1867, and is all the more fascinating for that reason.
1867年，歌川芳虎画下了他想象中的美国。此时距离横滨开港还不到十年，外国人的服饰、西洋建筑、蒸汽船，以及来自海外的各种新鲜事物，正不断进入日本人的视野。
画面围绕一场热气球游乐展开，空中与地面都挤满了值得观看的细节。最抢眼的是三只升上天空的热气球。右边一只尤其巨大，几乎撑满整张画面，吊篮里的人手持星条旗；远处另外两只气球也已经升空。中间一面巨大的美国国旗迎风展开，露台上的男女抬头观看。左边则画着几位外国人，男人留着胡须，女人穿着束腰长裙，连建筑的门窗、栏杆和室内陈设都带着浓厚的西洋味道。
芳虎本人并没有去过美国，只能从当时传入日本的外国书籍、版画和零散信息中寻找线索，再按照自己的理解将它们组合起来。热气球、星条旗、西洋建筑和衣着华丽的外国男女，就这样全部聚到了一起。
这也是这幅画今天看来最有趣的地方。它不一定能告诉我们1867年的美国是什么样子，却留下了1867年的日本人以为美国是什么样子。在一个大多数人根本没有机会亲自出国的年代，芳虎的浮世绘就像一扇窗口——窗外未必完全真实，却足够新鲜，让人忍不住想多看几眼。
