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拍品專文
Hiroshige’s 100 Famous Views of Edo – Now at Christie’s New York
Having been a great attraction and been enjoyed by huge audiences at both the Brooklyn Museum from April to August 2024, and again at Gagosian Gallery, New York, from May to July 2025, Hiroshige’s definitive views of Japan’s capital city of Edo, now Tokyo, are the highlight of Christie’s March sale. The main difference is that it will now be Hiroshige by himself, not supported by the large acrylic paintings on canvas by Takashi Murakami. In those innovative presentations, with Hiroshige’s prints shown together with Murakami’s views, some easily seven times larger and probably one even more than eighty times the original, the aim was to reconsider Japonisme and to learn from Hiroshige.
When the French art critic Philippe Burty first coined the term Japonisme in 1872, Hiroshige’s prints of his series of 100 Views of Edo had no doubt already landed in Paris as well as in other European cities. A fine indication is James McNeill Whistler’s Golden screen of 1864 where a woman in kimono is looking at prints from the series of the Sixty-odd Provinces, another Hiroshige series in the upright format. Whenever Hiroshige abandons the horizontal format in favor of prints in the vertical format, something special is happening.
Indeed, having designed some more than 750 prints of so-called famous views of Edo in various sizes from the late 1820s onwards, just counting the horizontal ones, in his last years he decided that it was time for a grand finale. Up to then, his prints in this subgenre, where Hiroshige almost held a monopoly position, catered primarily to the some more than twenty thousand annual visitors to the capital city. In addition to the samurai accompanying their daimyō when he was obliged to spend a year in the capital, there were traveling traders, craftsmen and pilgrims, as well as others who had some reason to visit Edo. For Hiroshige, designing an average of some thirty plus views of Edo annually, this ensured him a regular and steady income. But it also made his national reputation. One wanted nothing less than a real Hiroshige view of Ryōgoku Bridge, of the entrance to the city at Takanawa, or the Sensōji Temple at Asakusa. Apart from that, Hiroshige’s prints were altogether innocent pictures of the various places one might have seen, temples and shrines visited, waters seen and bridges crossed, and certainly safe to bring back home, unlike some print of one of the beauties of the Yoshiwara, where one’s wife might ask: Who’s that girl?
Earlier, mostly in VII-XII/1853, he had already made his series of Famous Views in the Sixty-odd Provinces, Rokujūyoshū meisho zue, issued with Koshimuraya Heisuke, completing the series at irregular intervals in the years 1854 (one design), 1855 (nine more designs), 1856 (the final nine designs to make it to 70). A table of contents was issued in IX/1856. The series of A 100 Famous Views of Edo, Meisho Edo hyakkei, issued from II/1856 to XI/1858, would eventually be comprised of 118 designs. Then Baisotei Gengyo made an additional print where they are all listed, arranged after the four seasons, as some kind of table of contents. Or maybe rather as a guidance for those who wanted to make them into a well-arranged album with all forty-two Spring scenes together, etcetera. Of course, the concept of a titled series had always been an incitement to buy all its prints and make the series complete. But it seems unlikely that Hiroshige had such a division in mind from the beginning. In addition to the forty-two Spring scenes, there are thirty designs associated with Summer, twenty-six for the Autumn, and twenty for the Winter.
Anyway, in addition to the exceptional upright format, judging from the scenes illustrated, it is obvious that the series was not destined to serve as a memory of one’s visit to the capital. Unlike most of Hiroshige’s prints of famous views of Edo, or Tōto, the Eastern Capital, as it was also called, this series was not aimed at an audience of occasional visitors. Quite a few scenes could only be appreciated by the real ‘Children of Edo,’ the Edokko who knew the very special locations in the city’s outskirts. Whereas most of his earlier series of views of Edo had been focused on some forty to fifty evergreens, with a top ten held by the entrance to the city at Takanawa and a view of the Island of Tsukudajima in Edo Bay, the cherries in bloom at Gotenyama Hill, Zōjōji Temple at Shiba as probably the first major temple seen for people traveling the Tōkaidō, and the last on the return journey, then quite naturally Ryōgoku Bridge across the Sumida River, the Sensōji Temple at Asakusa Kinryūzan, Kaneiji Temple at Tōeizan, Ueno, and, nearby, the Shinobazu Pond with the shrine devoted to the popular goddess Benten, then there is Kasumigaseki as a district crowded with daimyō mansions, and Asukayama Hill as a popular site for picnicking under the flowering cherries.
The publishers that he had been working with for so long on his numerous series or groups of prints of Edo views, were then, quite understandably, not really interested in some risky project, such as a series of Edo views aimed at a local audience. Moreover, Hiroshige demanded fine prints with ample use of gradation printing, bokashi, which was much more time consuming for the printers, and a bigger investment for the publisher. In the end, we may guess, he found Uoya Eikichi located at Shitaya willing to take on the project.
Apart from the 100 Famous Views project, Uoya is known for a Kunisada triptych print of women producing woodblock prints of VIII/1857. More interestingly, in VII/1856 he also issued a Kunisada triptych depicting his own shop of ‘Brocade Prints of the Eastern Capital,’ Azuma nishikie, coincidentally – or not -- advertising the Hundred Famous Views of Edo series on a panel to the left, a copy of which is preserved at the Collection Baur, Geneva. And though we can here see quite a few prints of actors being displayed, Kunisada’s first collaboration with Uoya in this genre only seems to be a diptych composition dating from III/1857, and similarly again one in III/1858. In addition to a series of thirty known designs titled Miscellaneous Illustrations by Toyokuni (that is Kunisada), Toyokuni manga zue of 1859⁄1860, later incidental examples of Kunisada prints of actors date from VII/1860, VIII/1861, and III/1862. This may suggest that reprinting the highly successful Hiroshige Famous Views was his main occupation at the time. Then there is just one more example of landscape prints, a series of Hundred Famous Views in All Provinces, Shokoku meisho hyakkei, by Hiroshige II, of which ninety designs are known, dating from 1859 to 1864. Maybe, producing prints was just a part-time occupation for Uoya Eikichi, next to his main business as a fishmonger, as his name Uoya, or also Totoya, suggests.
Anyway, Uoya took it very seriously, producing all of Hiroshige’s designs in a rich palette of colors with ample gradation printing and often even making use of the grain of the blocks used in the printing. Quite unexpectedly, the series was an immediate enormous success. But looking at the publication history, there are quite some unexpected gaps. In the first year of its production, starting with five designs in the second month of 1856, it is only resumed in the fourth month, with seven more designs. An explanation might be that Uoya, as a new publisher in the Edo market, was facing problems in securing a sufficient supply of high-quality paper, or even maybe in finding some atelier of printers and block cutters ready to work on either the reprints of the first instalment or the next instalment of seven prints. Then, the fifth month seems okay, with another group of seven designs being issued. But then there seems to be a problem again in the sixth month, with no new designs – or were the block cutters and printers also taking a break, much like the actors of the kabuki theatre? But these, at least, were touring the country. With hardly any performances in the kabuki theaters in the sixth month, there shouldn’t really be a problem to find an atelier of block cutters or printers eager to have some work. But also in 1857 and 1858, we see no prints in this series being issued in the sixth month. This might just be problem that we cannot blame on Uoya.
We can also hardly imagine that Hiroshige was lacking inspiration. He could always draw upon his earlier views of Edo in his Picture Book of Edo Souvenirs, Ehon Edo miyage, seven volumes by himself, published from 1850 to 1857, and completed by Hiroshige II until volume ten in 1867, so he wouldn’t have to walk around the city as an almost sexagenarian to work on his sketches. And, of course, there also was the by then classic Pictorial of the Famous Places of Edo, Edo meisho zue, 20 volumes published from 1834 to 1836 and illustrated by Hasegawa Settan. And Hiroshige was a master in finding some part in a black and white book illustration and making it into a fascinating full-color print.
Indeed, a few of the prints from the 100 Famous Views of Edo can in some way be associated with these two sources. But especially the Edo meisho zue illustrations probably also had an even more direct effect. The many hundreds of views of Edo that Hiroshige designed for an audience of visitors to the city have always a clear focus, on such and such a temple, a bridge, or just some limited sight. But in his 100 Famous Views we are presented with wide views of streams, rivers and the coastline, often including the distant hills. In order to enable these wide views, Hiroshige had to choose a high viewpoint. In this way, he could cover large stretches of ground around and behind the main actors in the foreground, that are mentioned in the title of the print. There is, for example a print titled A View from near Massaki, of Suijin Shrine, Uchikawa River and the Village of Sekiya, Massaki atari yori Suijin no mori Uchikawa Sekiya no sato wo miru no zu, covering quite a stretch. And there is also a print titled Massaki Seen from the Suijin Shrine across the Sumida River, Sumidagawa Suijin no mori Massaki, with even Mount Tsukuba seen on the horizon. Consequently, in the titles of the prints, we find the simple and direct word for landscape (95, 108), but also prospect or outlook (17, 117), and vista or distant view (39 and 85). But then, typically Hiroshige, we also find dawn (10), evening views (34 and 90), or blooming cherries (42), cloudy (38), and then there are the sudden shower (52), in a snowstorm (114), and clearing after snowfall (1).
Trying to make a selection of the ten most memorable views, I ended up with almost twenty of my favorites, in chronological order:
The Kinryūzan Sensōji Temple at Asakusa, Asakusa Kinryūzan (99 - VII/1856), as a fine snow view; The Timber Yard at Fukagawa, Fukagawa kiba (106 - VIII/1856), another nice snow scene contrasting with the blue of the canal, and Uoya Eikichi’s umbrella in the foreground; Suruga Street, Surugachō (8 - IX/1856), a lively scene with the large warehouse of Echigoya on both sides of the street, now known as the Mitsukoshi department store, the street also being famous for its view of Mount Fuji; Evening View of Saruwakamachi, Saruwakamachi yoru no kei (90 - IX/1856), a lively view of the theater district with untypical cast shadows; The Komagata Hall and Azuma Bridge, Komagatadō Azumabashi (55 - I/1857), a fine composition of the cuckoo flying over the rectangular Komagata Hall dedicated to the ‘Horse-headed Kannon’ with a view of Azuma Bridge completed in 1774; A View of Eitai Bridge and the Island of Tsukudajima, Eitaibashi Tsukudajima (4 - II/1857), a nice moonlit view of fishing with blazing torches; Suidō Bridge seen from the Suruga Heights, Suidōbashi Surugadai (63 - V/1857), a nice composition, using the giant carp streamer on Suruga Heights in the foreground to create a good perspective view of how the Boys’ Festival is celebrated in the district of Hongō; The Precincts of the Kameido Tenjin Temple, Kameido Tenjin keidai (57 - VII/1857), with its drum bridge and just a glimpse of the blooming wisterias, don’t miss an occasion to visit in the right season, the wisterias are just overwhelming; Evening View at the Sanya Canal at Matsuchiyama, Matsuchiyama Sanyabori no yakei (34 - VIII/1857), a moving scene with a courtesan on her way to an appointment, guided by her escort carrying her shamisen and lighting the road with a lantern; A View from near Massaki of Suijin Shrine, Uchikawa River and the Village of Sekiya, Massaki atari yori Suijin no mori Uchikawa Sekiya no sato wo miru no zu (36 - VIII/1857), that wonderful view through a circular window, with a plum tree in bloom and a distant view of Mount Tsukuba; A Sudden Shower on the Ōhashi Bridge, Ōhashi atake no yūdachi (52 - IX/1857), a favorite of Van Gogh, and probably to be ranked among the top two or three designs of the series; The Plum Garden at Kameido, Kameido Umeyashiki (30 - XI/1857), a daring close-up of a plum tree, and another favorite of Van Gogh, copying it in oil on canvas; Dyers’ Street in Kanda, Kanda Konyachō (75 - XI/1857), great and brave, all these strips of dyed cloth featuring the sign of ‘e’ for Uoya Eikichi, and the ‘Hiro-mark’ for Hiroshige, and a fascinating composition; Going to the Fair at Washi Daimyōjin at Asakusa Tanbo, Asakusa Tanbo Torinomachi mōde (101 - XI/1857), as a view from the window on the second floor of one of the houses at the Yoshiwara, with that intriguing set of hairpins on the floor; Edo Bridge seen from Nihon Bridge, Nihonbashi Edobashi (43 - XII/1857), a stunning view of the real center of Edo with just a glimpse of a bonito fish in a tub; The Bamboo Riverbank seen from Kyōbashi Bridge, Kyōbashi Takegashi (76 - XII/1857), with a moonlit view of the bamboo stalks aligned along the Kyōbashi River, partly upright, partly vertical, making a nice composition of lines with Kyōbashi Bridge in the foreground; The Drapery Shops at Ōtenmachō, Ōtenmachō momendana (7 - IV/1858), two geisha walking past the shops of Tabataya, Masuya and Shimaya; Fireworks over Ryōgoku Bridge, Ryōgoku hanabi (98 - VIII/1858), known in various versions, but always surprising, here with the firework stars against a dark sky. And I would also like to include the very nice Evening View of the Paulownia Plantation at Akasaka in the Rain, Akasaka kirihata uchū yūkei (48 - IV/1859) by Hiroshige II, also included in the sale, probably made to replace a lost or damaged keyblock of Hiroshige’s original.
Indeed, as you see, it really is a problem to stick to ten favorites, and then, every print is so rich in details, so fascinating. This is Edo at a turning point in its history, with Commodore Perry opening the country on behalf of the American president Filmore in 1854, and just before the Meiji restauration of 1868.
Shortly after Hiroshige’s death on the sixth day of the ninth month of 1858, which is October 12 in our calendar, it would, quite appropriately, be Uoya Eikichi who issued a memorial portrait of Hiroshige, designed by Kunisada, also included in the lot. Hiroshige’s last years saw many collaborative print projects with Kunisada.
Dr. Matthi Forrer
Senior Researcher Japan Collections, National Museum of Ethnology, Leiden (presently known as Wereldmuseum)
Having been a great attraction and been enjoyed by huge audiences at both the Brooklyn Museum from April to August 2024, and again at Gagosian Gallery, New York, from May to July 2025, Hiroshige’s definitive views of Japan’s capital city of Edo, now Tokyo, are the highlight of Christie’s March sale. The main difference is that it will now be Hiroshige by himself, not supported by the large acrylic paintings on canvas by Takashi Murakami. In those innovative presentations, with Hiroshige’s prints shown together with Murakami’s views, some easily seven times larger and probably one even more than eighty times the original, the aim was to reconsider Japonisme and to learn from Hiroshige.
When the French art critic Philippe Burty first coined the term Japonisme in 1872, Hiroshige’s prints of his series of 100 Views of Edo had no doubt already landed in Paris as well as in other European cities. A fine indication is James McNeill Whistler’s Golden screen of 1864 where a woman in kimono is looking at prints from the series of the Sixty-odd Provinces, another Hiroshige series in the upright format. Whenever Hiroshige abandons the horizontal format in favor of prints in the vertical format, something special is happening.
Indeed, having designed some more than 750 prints of so-called famous views of Edo in various sizes from the late 1820s onwards, just counting the horizontal ones, in his last years he decided that it was time for a grand finale. Up to then, his prints in this subgenre, where Hiroshige almost held a monopoly position, catered primarily to the some more than twenty thousand annual visitors to the capital city. In addition to the samurai accompanying their daimyō when he was obliged to spend a year in the capital, there were traveling traders, craftsmen and pilgrims, as well as others who had some reason to visit Edo. For Hiroshige, designing an average of some thirty plus views of Edo annually, this ensured him a regular and steady income. But it also made his national reputation. One wanted nothing less than a real Hiroshige view of Ryōgoku Bridge, of the entrance to the city at Takanawa, or the Sensōji Temple at Asakusa. Apart from that, Hiroshige’s prints were altogether innocent pictures of the various places one might have seen, temples and shrines visited, waters seen and bridges crossed, and certainly safe to bring back home, unlike some print of one of the beauties of the Yoshiwara, where one’s wife might ask: Who’s that girl?
Earlier, mostly in VII-XII/1853, he had already made his series of Famous Views in the Sixty-odd Provinces, Rokujūyoshū meisho zue, issued with Koshimuraya Heisuke, completing the series at irregular intervals in the years 1854 (one design), 1855 (nine more designs), 1856 (the final nine designs to make it to 70). A table of contents was issued in IX/1856. The series of A 100 Famous Views of Edo, Meisho Edo hyakkei, issued from II/1856 to XI/1858, would eventually be comprised of 118 designs. Then Baisotei Gengyo made an additional print where they are all listed, arranged after the four seasons, as some kind of table of contents. Or maybe rather as a guidance for those who wanted to make them into a well-arranged album with all forty-two Spring scenes together, etcetera. Of course, the concept of a titled series had always been an incitement to buy all its prints and make the series complete. But it seems unlikely that Hiroshige had such a division in mind from the beginning. In addition to the forty-two Spring scenes, there are thirty designs associated with Summer, twenty-six for the Autumn, and twenty for the Winter.
Anyway, in addition to the exceptional upright format, judging from the scenes illustrated, it is obvious that the series was not destined to serve as a memory of one’s visit to the capital. Unlike most of Hiroshige’s prints of famous views of Edo, or Tōto, the Eastern Capital, as it was also called, this series was not aimed at an audience of occasional visitors. Quite a few scenes could only be appreciated by the real ‘Children of Edo,’ the Edokko who knew the very special locations in the city’s outskirts. Whereas most of his earlier series of views of Edo had been focused on some forty to fifty evergreens, with a top ten held by the entrance to the city at Takanawa and a view of the Island of Tsukudajima in Edo Bay, the cherries in bloom at Gotenyama Hill, Zōjōji Temple at Shiba as probably the first major temple seen for people traveling the Tōkaidō, and the last on the return journey, then quite naturally Ryōgoku Bridge across the Sumida River, the Sensōji Temple at Asakusa Kinryūzan, Kaneiji Temple at Tōeizan, Ueno, and, nearby, the Shinobazu Pond with the shrine devoted to the popular goddess Benten, then there is Kasumigaseki as a district crowded with daimyō mansions, and Asukayama Hill as a popular site for picnicking under the flowering cherries.
The publishers that he had been working with for so long on his numerous series or groups of prints of Edo views, were then, quite understandably, not really interested in some risky project, such as a series of Edo views aimed at a local audience. Moreover, Hiroshige demanded fine prints with ample use of gradation printing, bokashi, which was much more time consuming for the printers, and a bigger investment for the publisher. In the end, we may guess, he found Uoya Eikichi located at Shitaya willing to take on the project.
Apart from the 100 Famous Views project, Uoya is known for a Kunisada triptych print of women producing woodblock prints of VIII/1857. More interestingly, in VII/1856 he also issued a Kunisada triptych depicting his own shop of ‘Brocade Prints of the Eastern Capital,’ Azuma nishikie, coincidentally – or not -- advertising the Hundred Famous Views of Edo series on a panel to the left, a copy of which is preserved at the Collection Baur, Geneva. And though we can here see quite a few prints of actors being displayed, Kunisada’s first collaboration with Uoya in this genre only seems to be a diptych composition dating from III/1857, and similarly again one in III/1858. In addition to a series of thirty known designs titled Miscellaneous Illustrations by Toyokuni (that is Kunisada), Toyokuni manga zue of 1859⁄1860, later incidental examples of Kunisada prints of actors date from VII/1860, VIII/1861, and III/1862. This may suggest that reprinting the highly successful Hiroshige Famous Views was his main occupation at the time. Then there is just one more example of landscape prints, a series of Hundred Famous Views in All Provinces, Shokoku meisho hyakkei, by Hiroshige II, of which ninety designs are known, dating from 1859 to 1864. Maybe, producing prints was just a part-time occupation for Uoya Eikichi, next to his main business as a fishmonger, as his name Uoya, or also Totoya, suggests.
Anyway, Uoya took it very seriously, producing all of Hiroshige’s designs in a rich palette of colors with ample gradation printing and often even making use of the grain of the blocks used in the printing. Quite unexpectedly, the series was an immediate enormous success. But looking at the publication history, there are quite some unexpected gaps. In the first year of its production, starting with five designs in the second month of 1856, it is only resumed in the fourth month, with seven more designs. An explanation might be that Uoya, as a new publisher in the Edo market, was facing problems in securing a sufficient supply of high-quality paper, or even maybe in finding some atelier of printers and block cutters ready to work on either the reprints of the first instalment or the next instalment of seven prints. Then, the fifth month seems okay, with another group of seven designs being issued. But then there seems to be a problem again in the sixth month, with no new designs – or were the block cutters and printers also taking a break, much like the actors of the kabuki theatre? But these, at least, were touring the country. With hardly any performances in the kabuki theaters in the sixth month, there shouldn’t really be a problem to find an atelier of block cutters or printers eager to have some work. But also in 1857 and 1858, we see no prints in this series being issued in the sixth month. This might just be problem that we cannot blame on Uoya.
We can also hardly imagine that Hiroshige was lacking inspiration. He could always draw upon his earlier views of Edo in his Picture Book of Edo Souvenirs, Ehon Edo miyage, seven volumes by himself, published from 1850 to 1857, and completed by Hiroshige II until volume ten in 1867, so he wouldn’t have to walk around the city as an almost sexagenarian to work on his sketches. And, of course, there also was the by then classic Pictorial of the Famous Places of Edo, Edo meisho zue, 20 volumes published from 1834 to 1836 and illustrated by Hasegawa Settan. And Hiroshige was a master in finding some part in a black and white book illustration and making it into a fascinating full-color print.
Indeed, a few of the prints from the 100 Famous Views of Edo can in some way be associated with these two sources. But especially the Edo meisho zue illustrations probably also had an even more direct effect. The many hundreds of views of Edo that Hiroshige designed for an audience of visitors to the city have always a clear focus, on such and such a temple, a bridge, or just some limited sight. But in his 100 Famous Views we are presented with wide views of streams, rivers and the coastline, often including the distant hills. In order to enable these wide views, Hiroshige had to choose a high viewpoint. In this way, he could cover large stretches of ground around and behind the main actors in the foreground, that are mentioned in the title of the print. There is, for example a print titled A View from near Massaki, of Suijin Shrine, Uchikawa River and the Village of Sekiya, Massaki atari yori Suijin no mori Uchikawa Sekiya no sato wo miru no zu, covering quite a stretch. And there is also a print titled Massaki Seen from the Suijin Shrine across the Sumida River, Sumidagawa Suijin no mori Massaki, with even Mount Tsukuba seen on the horizon. Consequently, in the titles of the prints, we find the simple and direct word for landscape (95, 108), but also prospect or outlook (17, 117), and vista or distant view (39 and 85). But then, typically Hiroshige, we also find dawn (10), evening views (34 and 90), or blooming cherries (42), cloudy (38), and then there are the sudden shower (52), in a snowstorm (114), and clearing after snowfall (1).
Trying to make a selection of the ten most memorable views, I ended up with almost twenty of my favorites, in chronological order:
The Kinryūzan Sensōji Temple at Asakusa, Asakusa Kinryūzan (99 - VII/1856), as a fine snow view; The Timber Yard at Fukagawa, Fukagawa kiba (106 - VIII/1856), another nice snow scene contrasting with the blue of the canal, and Uoya Eikichi’s umbrella in the foreground; Suruga Street, Surugachō (8 - IX/1856), a lively scene with the large warehouse of Echigoya on both sides of the street, now known as the Mitsukoshi department store, the street also being famous for its view of Mount Fuji; Evening View of Saruwakamachi, Saruwakamachi yoru no kei (90 - IX/1856), a lively view of the theater district with untypical cast shadows; The Komagata Hall and Azuma Bridge, Komagatadō Azumabashi (55 - I/1857), a fine composition of the cuckoo flying over the rectangular Komagata Hall dedicated to the ‘Horse-headed Kannon’ with a view of Azuma Bridge completed in 1774; A View of Eitai Bridge and the Island of Tsukudajima, Eitaibashi Tsukudajima (4 - II/1857), a nice moonlit view of fishing with blazing torches; Suidō Bridge seen from the Suruga Heights, Suidōbashi Surugadai (63 - V/1857), a nice composition, using the giant carp streamer on Suruga Heights in the foreground to create a good perspective view of how the Boys’ Festival is celebrated in the district of Hongō; The Precincts of the Kameido Tenjin Temple, Kameido Tenjin keidai (57 - VII/1857), with its drum bridge and just a glimpse of the blooming wisterias, don’t miss an occasion to visit in the right season, the wisterias are just overwhelming; Evening View at the Sanya Canal at Matsuchiyama, Matsuchiyama Sanyabori no yakei (34 - VIII/1857), a moving scene with a courtesan on her way to an appointment, guided by her escort carrying her shamisen and lighting the road with a lantern; A View from near Massaki of Suijin Shrine, Uchikawa River and the Village of Sekiya, Massaki atari yori Suijin no mori Uchikawa Sekiya no sato wo miru no zu (36 - VIII/1857), that wonderful view through a circular window, with a plum tree in bloom and a distant view of Mount Tsukuba; A Sudden Shower on the Ōhashi Bridge, Ōhashi atake no yūdachi (52 - IX/1857), a favorite of Van Gogh, and probably to be ranked among the top two or three designs of the series; The Plum Garden at Kameido, Kameido Umeyashiki (30 - XI/1857), a daring close-up of a plum tree, and another favorite of Van Gogh, copying it in oil on canvas; Dyers’ Street in Kanda, Kanda Konyachō (75 - XI/1857), great and brave, all these strips of dyed cloth featuring the sign of ‘e’ for Uoya Eikichi, and the ‘Hiro-mark’ for Hiroshige, and a fascinating composition; Going to the Fair at Washi Daimyōjin at Asakusa Tanbo, Asakusa Tanbo Torinomachi mōde (101 - XI/1857), as a view from the window on the second floor of one of the houses at the Yoshiwara, with that intriguing set of hairpins on the floor; Edo Bridge seen from Nihon Bridge, Nihonbashi Edobashi (43 - XII/1857), a stunning view of the real center of Edo with just a glimpse of a bonito fish in a tub; The Bamboo Riverbank seen from Kyōbashi Bridge, Kyōbashi Takegashi (76 - XII/1857), with a moonlit view of the bamboo stalks aligned along the Kyōbashi River, partly upright, partly vertical, making a nice composition of lines with Kyōbashi Bridge in the foreground; The Drapery Shops at Ōtenmachō, Ōtenmachō momendana (7 - IV/1858), two geisha walking past the shops of Tabataya, Masuya and Shimaya; Fireworks over Ryōgoku Bridge, Ryōgoku hanabi (98 - VIII/1858), known in various versions, but always surprising, here with the firework stars against a dark sky. And I would also like to include the very nice Evening View of the Paulownia Plantation at Akasaka in the Rain, Akasaka kirihata uchū yūkei (48 - IV/1859) by Hiroshige II, also included in the sale, probably made to replace a lost or damaged keyblock of Hiroshige’s original.
Indeed, as you see, it really is a problem to stick to ten favorites, and then, every print is so rich in details, so fascinating. This is Edo at a turning point in its history, with Commodore Perry opening the country on behalf of the American president Filmore in 1854, and just before the Meiji restauration of 1868.
Shortly after Hiroshige’s death on the sixth day of the ninth month of 1858, which is October 12 in our calendar, it would, quite appropriately, be Uoya Eikichi who issued a memorial portrait of Hiroshige, designed by Kunisada, also included in the lot. Hiroshige’s last years saw many collaborative print projects with Kunisada.
Dr. Matthi Forrer
Senior Researcher Japan Collections, National Museum of Ethnology, Leiden (presently known as Wereldmuseum)