Hiroshige 広重: Pine Beach at Miho in Suruga Province 駿河三保之松原 (SOLD)

Artist: Utagawa Hiroshige 広重 (1797-1858)
Title: Pine Beach at Miho in Suruga Province 駿河三保之松原
Series: Thirty-six Views of Mt Fuji 冨士三十六景 (Fuji sanjûrokkei)
Date: 1858/8th Month

Mount Fuji rises in perfect symmetry against a yellow sky that blends via bokashi into black,  which helps to draw our eye upwards with the slope of the mountain and to anchor the top of the design. Only Hiroshige could have such success with this unusual color combination– the contrast of the mountain against the yellow sky helps to make it one of the best designs in the series. Hiroshige’s penchant for diagonal design elements that draw the eye in a sophisticated zig-zag pattern are in full evidence:  Beginning with the small boat to the right, our eyes move right towards the lower pines, then towards the left corner, then along the shore rightward with the sailboats, and then up the right slope of Mount Fuji and down again on the other side. Miho-no-Matsubara is now part of Mount Fuji’s World Heritage Site, and there are still more than thirty thousand pine grees that grow along its picturesque 7 km beach. An extremely early and crisp impression, with the woodgrain evident in the sky and hills and lots of bokashi and mica highlights. 

Condition: Excellent impression and condition; very good color. Area of repaired wormage in top margin.
Dimensions: ôban (36 x 24.2 cm)
Publisher: Tsutaya Kichizô
Literature: See Matthi Forrer’s “Hiroshige” (Prestel, 1997), figure 77. See Art Institute of Chicago, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Minneapolis Institute of Art, British Museum. 

Signature: Hiroshige ga

SKU: HIC021L