HIROSHIGE'S 100 FAMOUS VIEWS OF EDO: Selected Works ASIA WEEK NEW YORK SEPTEMBER 2024
Hiroshige’s groundbreaking series 100 Famous Views of Edo was his final masterwork, redefining the landscape genre in 19th c. Japanese woodblock printmaking. Hiroshige‘s unique vision came alive with the publisher Sakanaya Eikichi, who hired the finest carvers and printers and spared no expense in creating this series. Previous series by Hiroshige and Hokusai featured many significant designs in the usual horizontal format, but fewer blocks were used and thus the color palettes and the printing effects were more limited. For this late 1850s series, Hiroshige chose the dramatic upright format, and there were many more color blocks created per image and more care taken with the printing of the early editions. The series had a seismic influence on late 19th century western art and artist, one that would be difficult to overstate. Artists like Van Gogh Monet, Manet and Whistler found this series revelatory and inspirational, along with countless other artists (and even photographers). It would not be too strong to say that it made them rethink their relationship to representational art. The unusual viewpoints, flat planes of color and strongly cropped elements by Hiroshige along with the extra care and consideration lavished on this series by the printers and carvers via publisher, make this the capstone on his storied career. Our exhibition includes the undisputed masterpiece in this series, Sudden Shower Over Shin-Ohashi Bridge and Atake, the work selected by Van Gogh as a basis to create an homage as an oil painting, now at the Van Gogh Museum. The Brooklyn Museum of art has recently closed its exhibition on the series; its deluxe edition set is considered one of the great treasures of the Museum.
