Hiroshige 広重: Night View of Matsushiyama and the San’ya Canal (Sold)

Artist: Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川 広重 (1797-1858)
Title: Night View of Matsushiyama and the San’ya Canal
Series: One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo Hyakkei)
Date: 1857

Sultry evening scene of a geisha in profile who wears an inscrutable expression and looks straight ahead. She seems to follow her attendant’s lantern as they walk along the Nihon Embankment that leads to the Yoshiwara pleasure district. At the time the viewers of this print would know immediately the area and the connotations, and would recognize the lights of the two restaurants at the back that welcomed visitors en route to the Yoshiwara. This is an early impression with strong woodgrain in the sky and water, and mica highlights in the sky above.  

Condition: Excellent impression and color. Very good condition. There is a smudge of the blue ink in the sky that seems to have occurred at the time of print production. Center fold.
Dimensions: ôban (36.8 x 24.5 cm)
Publisher: Uoya Eikichi
Literature: Henry Smith II: Hiroshige One Hundred Famous View of Edo, plate 34. See the Art Institute of Chicago, MFA Boston, Chazen and Honolulu Museum collections. This impression compares with the Chazen example.
Seal: Censor’s seal “Aratame” and Date seal 
Signature: Hiroshige ga

SKU: HIR529