Ando Hiroshige (1797-1858) is generally
considered the greatest Ukiyo-e artist (together with the great
Hokusai) of the landscape genre.
He was a son of an Edo (today's
Tokyo) firewarden and although he succeeded on an early age to his
father's hereditary post the attraction of becoming a woodblock
designer dominated. He became a student of Utagawa Toyohiro
(1773-1828) and studied the classical tradition of the Kano
painting style. Hiroshige was also very much interested and
influenced by the Western artists and their view on depicting the
landscape and the perspective.
The following five woodblock designs are
from two of Hiroshige's finest contributions to Japanese art,
namely his series 'Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido'
(c.1833-34) and 'One Hundred Famous on Edo' (c.1856-59)
Nocturnal Snowfall in Kambara
(Station 16 in the series 'Fifty-three
Stations of the Tokaido' )
A rather traditional scene depicting the
town of Kambara covered under a thick white blanket of snow. On
the right of the image two travellers walking uphill just passed
by a local residant who's holding an umbrella. All three are
trudging through the snow leaving their footprints while large
flakes fall from the dark sky. What makes this design so
extraordinary is the minimal use of colour and the skilful manner
in which Hiroshige depicts snow giving this scene a forceful
poetic effect. Strangely enough Kambara is situated near a warm
stretch of coast, where it seldomly snows, so this scene probably
represents an ebullition of Hiroshige's imagination.
Sudden Rainstorm at Shono
(Station 46 in the series 'Fifty-three
Stations of the Tokaido' )
In this most famous of all Hiroshige's
prints some inhabitants of Shono are overtaken by a sudden
downpour and are running for shelter.
Two palanquin bearers and
their human freight are running up the steep mountain accompanied
by a basket-seller. Running down the
mountain are a traveller and
his servant with the latter one holding an umbrella. The
countryside is heavily veiled in rain with the town
Shono barely
visible.
In this dynamic composition Hiroshige has
divided the space in audacious triangles of varying depth with the
two groups of figures running in opposite directions out of the
frame. Hiroshige creates a perspective depth using different
shades of black on the bamboo forest effectively contrasting with
the overall colour composition giving it an almost idyllic feel.
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Plum Orchard in Kameido (a.k.a.
Plum Garden)
(Print 30 in the series 'One-Hundred
Views on Edo' )
Hiroshige's Plum Garden is
a perfect example of the symbiotic exchange between the
artists of the East and the West. In this daring
composition (and in many others in this series) Hiroshige
applies the repoussoir device, which was a common
technique in Western art, placing a large plum-tree to the
foreground with the twigs dividing the image in seperate
parts. The visitors in the background, who enjoy the sight
of these trees, almost look like little puppets. The red
of the sky and the green of the landscape represent the
two major contrasting hues and enhance the impression of
uniqueness expressed by the picture. The print is probably
best known as a model for Vincent van Gogh's copy in oils.
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Sudden Shower at Ohashi (a.k.a.
Sudden Shower)
(Print 52 in the series 'One-Hundred
Views on Edo' )
Hiroshige was fascinated by the
realism of photography and the possibilities of
incorporating its compositions to his woodblock designs. One
of his best known examples is the Sudden Shower print
which along with his Plum Garden design inspired Van
Gogh. Hiroshige depicts six townspeople caught in a sudden
downpour on the Ohashi bridge. On the Sumida river a
raftsman, wearing a straw raincoat, tries to control his
raft through the fast running water.
The vertical lines of the rain
accentuated by the vertical format of the print are
masterfully counterbalanced by the diagonal lines of the
bridge on the foreground and the riverbank in the
background. In an earlier impression (most probably an
earlier "proof" state!) two addtional rafts are
depicted.
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Fox Fires on New Year's Eve at the
Garment Nettle Tree at Oji
(a.k.a. Fox fires)
(Print 118 in the series 'One-Hundred
Views on Edo' )
The Foxfires design is the
conclusive print Hiroshige produced for his 'One-Hundred
Views on Edo' -series, published shortly before his
death, and is the only one in the entire series that
involves the fantasy theme. This mysterious design is
based on an old Japanese legend in which fox spirits (kitsune)
gather around the Garment Nettle Tree on New Year's Eve.
Hiroshige's terrific use of different shades of blue adds
to the ominous emanation. He often used Prussian blue in
his work earning him the nickname "Blue
Hiroshige".
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Click
Here For Purchasing or more Info of the Original Hiroshige
Foxfires piece.
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