Utagawa Hiroshige (Japanese: 歌川 広重), also Andō Hiroshige (Japanese: 安藤 広重; 1797 – 12 October 1858), was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist, considered the last great master of that tradition.
Hiroshige is best known for his landscapes, such as the series The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō and The Sixty-nine Stations of the Kiso Kaidō; and for his depictions of birds and flowers. The subjects of his work were atypical of the ukiyo-e genre, whose typical focus was on beautiful women, popular actors, and other scenes of the urban pleasure districts of Japan’s Edo period (1603–1868). The popular Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji series by Hokusai was a strong influence on Hiroshige’s choice of subject, though Hiroshige’s approach was more poetic and ambient than Hokusai’s bolder, more formal prints. (Wikipedia)
As a child, I collected the little cards with Japanese prints that came in ochazuke (breakfast rice soup sprinkles). The compositions were asymmetrical (diagonals!), the illustrations imaginative, and the colors shifted elegantly from the blunt American palette – the inks both vibrant and subtle. I loved them. I knew about Japanese artworks before I knew about the European impressionists who were so inspired by them. I knew the Japanese works so well that the impressionists seemed clumsy and heavy handed compared to the delicate craftsmanship of Japanese artists. Eventually the influence grew conduits in my mind, and I came to appreciate and enjoy both. (More on Japonisme soon.)
Below is a collection of Hiroshige prints featuring rain. The plants outside my window may be different, and my neighbors don’t wear yellow hats, but the rain looks much the same.
Utagawa Hiroshige: Travellers surprised by sudden rain
I recently posted about my happy obsession with The Great Pottery Throwdown. Rich Miller is one of the regulars on the show; first as the kiln technician, then later as a judge, holding equanimity while the other judge bursts into tears. I liked the clear style of his critiques so I looked up his work, …
The article below has some good stuff, but it also misses some of my personal favorite points about how European artists were effected by Japanese art. In the mid/late 1800’s, European art was based on stodgy old realism, and Japanese artists had the crazy idea of using their imagination. In these Japanese prints, proportions are changed, angles are shifted, and …
Before there were art supply stores, people made art. Before there were pencils, there were sharpened mineral rocks. Before there were brushes there were clumps of grass and twigs and fur. Today’s drawing is “No Art Store Tools.” You can use paper, but no pencils. Ink is fine, but no pens. So what now? Lots! …
Tamami Shima (1937-1999) graduated from the the Women’s College of Fine Arts, Tokyo in 1958. Her woodblock designs use texture, often multiple woodgrain patterns within a single image. There are a few spots left in our Landscape Woodblock class this Saturday. Woodblock is a great skillbuilder for painters. …
Hiroshige’s Rainy Moments
From Wikipedia:
As a child, I collected the little cards with Japanese prints that came in ochazuke (breakfast rice soup sprinkles). The compositions were asymmetrical (diagonals!), the illustrations imaginative, and the colors shifted elegantly from the blunt American palette – the inks both vibrant and subtle. I loved them. I knew about Japanese artworks before I knew about the European impressionists who were so inspired by them. I knew the Japanese works so well that the impressionists seemed clumsy and heavy handed compared to the delicate craftsmanship of Japanese artists. Eventually the influence grew conduits in my mind, and I came to appreciate and enjoy both. (More on Japonisme soon.)
Below is a collection of Hiroshige prints featuring rain. The plants outside my window may be different, and my neighbors don’t wear yellow hats, but the rain looks much the same.
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I recently posted about my happy obsession with The Great Pottery Throwdown. Rich Miller is one of the regulars on the show; first as the kiln technician, then later as a judge, holding equanimity while the other judge bursts into tears. I liked the clear style of his critiques so I looked up his work, …
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The article below has some good stuff, but it also misses some of my personal favorite points about how European artists were effected by Japanese art. In the mid/late 1800’s, European art was based on stodgy old realism, and Japanese artists had the crazy idea of using their imagination. In these Japanese prints, proportions are changed, angles are shifted, and …
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Before there were art supply stores, people made art. Before there were pencils, there were sharpened mineral rocks. Before there were brushes there were clumps of grass and twigs and fur. Today’s drawing is “No Art Store Tools.” You can use paper, but no pencils. Ink is fine, but no pens. So what now? Lots! …
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