Hiroshige 広重: Gokanoshô in Higo Province (Sold)

Artist: Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川広重(1797-1898)
Title: Gokanoshô in Higo Province 肥後 五かの庄
Series: Sixty-odd Famous Views of the Provinces  六十余州名所図会
Date: 1856

A woodcutter balances his load carefully as he treads a vertiginous bridge comprised of a large tree whose trunk spans a steep ravine near Gokanosho in Kyushu. Around him float clouds of mist that rise from the ravine below. Gokanosho has long been associated with the defeated Heike clan in the 12th century, when the area became their hiding grounds following their defeat by the Genji warriors. Hiroshige based this design on an 1817 Hokusai design in “Hokusai manga”. He has given a terrific sense of the drama of the terrain and the remoteness of the area.

Condition: Very good impression, color and condition.
Publisher: Koshimura-ya Heisuke
Literature: See “Hiroshige’s Journey in the 60-Odd Provinces” (2004), number 64. See museum collections of MFA, Chazen, MET and Honolulu Academy of Art.
Signature: Hiroshige hitsu

SKU: HIR533