Kiyochika 清親: Ryogoku Bridge from Thousand Stakes 千本杭両国橋 (Sold)

Artist: Kobayashi Kiyochika 小林清親 (1847-1915)
Title: Ryogoku Bridge from Thousand Stakes 千本杭両国橋
Date: 1880

In the foreground is an impressive assembly of stakes known as Senbongui (”Thousand Stakes”), which served as a breakwater to protect the shore in a curve in the Sumida River. Our perspective is from the eastern bank of the river, looking south towards Ryogoku Bridge. It must be near sunset, as the sky is aglow with pink and there is a bright yellow streak across the sky. We see a fisherman in a boat casting a pole, the ripples evident in the prow of his boat as it bobs up and down with his exertions. This work was done in numerous color schemes; here the overarching color is pink, with blue above and a delineating streak of yellow. We feel the artistic fingerprints of Hiroshige, with the cropped view of the stakes that are up close and personal.

Condition: Excellent impression, color and condition. Large, clean margins.
Dimensions: ôban horizontal
Publisher: Fukada Komajirô
Literature: See Henry Smith II’s book “Kiyochika: Artist of Meiji Japan”, plate 21, page 34. See the excellent "MIT Visualizing Cultures" article online. See LACMA online.
Signature: Kobayashi Kiyochika

SKU: KYC444