Description
- ［In the form of Woodblock print］Woodblock printed by hand/ Size of picture : Height 33.5 x Width 22.5 cm/ Size of printed paper : Height 39 x Width 26 cm///[Paper] : Echizen Kizuki Bosho (Thick Japanese paper made from 100 % Kozo, (plant)) by Human national treasure, IWANO Ichibei)/ Material : Cherry (Sakura) Wood///[Frame]Size of Frame : Height 56.5 x Width 45 x Thickness 2 cm/ Material of Frame : Wood/ With a Guide in English and Japanese
- If the stock will be expired, we will take 2 - 3 months to deliver, because they are woodblocks hand-printed by craftsmen. Please understand it in advance.
- The 1st UTAGAWA Hiroshige［Profile］He was born as a child of Samurai family, but he lost his parents at the age of 13. When he was 15 years old, he entered the atelier of an Ukiyoe artist, UTAGAWA Toyohiro. In autumn at the age of 36, he went to Edo with the party to make Tokugawa Shogunate a present of a horse, so he made a round trip on the Tokaido (Edo-Kyoto highway in Edo period). The works based on this experience were 55 pictures of "The fifty-three stations of the Tokaido" in Hoeido edition. By grace of the explosive sales of this series, Hiroshige got a permanent place in Ukiyo-e world. Hiroshige became a mega-selling artist of Ukiyo-e, and produced many masterpieces. Especially, there were many works drawn Edo, so it is said that the total amount reached 1,300 works. "100 famous views of Edo" is said to be the last masterpiece of Hiroshige, and it was started to publish from 1856 and was ended up with unfinished in his last 2 years. After the death of 1st Hiroshige, it was completed by making up for deficiencies in his works by 2nd Hiroshige and was attached the index "Ichiritsusai Hiroshige Isseiichidai Edo Hyakkei (100 views of Edo of Ichiritsusai Hiroshige's life)". The previous Ukiyo-e prints had a method to represent a sense of perspective by outlines with Boku-sen (Line in black ink), but Hiroshige represented a sense of perspective by the gradation that he reduced Boku-sen dramatically and used many different color blocks. This representation method, that had not existed in the traditional Ukiyo-e prints, was produced for the first time by the close cooperation between Hiroshige who well knew the techniques of Woodblock prints, Wood-carvers and Printers. And, it was passed down the generation for a long time as a masterpiece.
- The original pictures for the reprint of this time are total 120 pictures from "100 famous views of Edo" that belongs in a Edo-Tokyo Museum. It is said to be the first printing set, usually it can be printed about 100 sheets for the first time, and it is very good state of preservation. So it has become a very valuable document. For the reprint, it is necessary more precise check against the originals, for example, color-coding for the carving work, color matching several times after finishing the test printing, etc..., but this difficult reprint project was achieved by the full partnership between Tokyo city and Edo-Tokyo Museum.
- 'The greatest world-class Ukiyo-e of landscape in Japan that was influenced Monet and Van Gogh.' The reprint of "100 famous views of Edo" had been desired for a long time, but it was said to be impossible because of it's large scale. This was a huge work in the last years of UTAGAWA Hiroshige's life, and it was also a masterpiece that he continued to work until shortly before death. We can recall the good old Edo atmosphere from the various idyllic scenes and the joyous moods of annual events. And the overhead view to look down from the high point of sight, the perspective to draw bigger the impressive materials in front, the creative layout, etc... "100 famous views of Edo" made a shocking impact on the modern paintures who played an active role in Europe, Monet, Van Gogh, Whistler, etc... Especially, it is famous that Van Gogh, who had considerable concern to Ukiyo-e, reproduced "Sudden Shower over Shin-Ohashi Bridge and Atake" and "The Plum Orchard at Kameido". "100 famous views of Edo" by UTAGAWA Hiroshige is a monumental work of Ukiyo-e prints renowned in the world as well as Japan.
This picture is also famous that it was reproduced by Van Gogh. It is said to be one of representative works in this series composed by Hiroshige's dynamic way, his favorite way, to bring the near view into close-up and to look in distance. The carving is amazing. The ground turns green, and the sky turns red. The texture of an old tree is excellently represented by overprinting with several colors. The plum orchard at Kameido was located North East of Kameido Tenjin Shrin. In this plum garden, there was a precious wood "Garyu Bai" whose branches hugged the ground as if a dragon slept. So, this tree could not be distinguished between the trunk and the branches. Those flowers were white and double. This plum tree "Garyu Bai" smelled sweet far away from it.
