Description
- ［In the form of Woodblock print］Woodblock printed by hand/ Size of picture : Height 33.5 x Width 22.5 cm/ Size of printed paper : Height 39 x Width 26 cm///[Paper] : Echizen Kizuki Bosho (Thick Japanese paper made from 100 % Kozo, (plant)) by Human national treasure, IWANO Ichibei)/ Material : Cherry (Sakura) Wood///[Frame]Size of Frame : Height 56.5 x Width 45 x Thickness 2 cm/ Material of Frame : Wood/ With a Guide in English and Japanese
- If the stock will be expired, we will take 2 - 3 months to deliver, because they are woodblocks hand-printed by craftsmen. Please understand it in advance.
- The 1st UTAGAWA Hiroshige［Profile］He was born as a child of Samurai family, but he lost his parents at the age of 13. When he was 15 years old, he entered the atelier of an Ukiyoe artist, UTAGAWA Toyohiro. In autumn at the age of 36, he went to Edo with the party to make Tokugawa Shogunate a present of a horse, so he made a round trip on the Tokaido (Edo-Kyoto highway in Edo period). The works based on this experience were 55 pictures of "The fifty-three stations of the Tokaido" in Hoeido edition. By grace of the explosive sales of this series, Hiroshige got a permanent place in Ukiyo-e world. Hiroshige became a mega-selling artist of Ukiyo-e, and produced many masterpieces. Especially, there were many works drawn Edo, so it is said that the total amount reached 1,300 works. "100 famous views of Edo" is said to be the last masterpiece of Hiroshige, and it was started to publish from 1856 and was ended up with unfinished in his last 2 years. After the death of 1st Hiroshige, it was completed by making up for deficiencies in his works by 2nd Hiroshige and was attached the index "Ichiritsusai Hiroshige Isseiichidai Edo Hyakkei (100 views of Edo of Ichiritsusai Hiroshige's life)". The previous Ukiyo-e prints had a method to represent a sense of perspective by outlines with Boku-sen (Line in black ink), but Hiroshige represented a sense of perspective by the gradation that he reduced Boku-sen dramatically and used many different color blocks. This representation method, that had not existed in the traditional Ukiyo-e prints, was produced for the first time by the close cooperation between Hiroshige who well knew the techniques of Woodblock prints, Wood-carvers and Printers. And, it was passed down the generation for a long time as a masterpiece.
- The original pictures for the reprint of this time are total 120 pictures from "100 famous views of Edo" that belongs in a Edo-Tokyo Museum. It is said to be the first printing set, usually it can be printed about 100 sheets for the first time, and it is very good state of preservation. So it has become a very valuable document. For the reprint, it is necessary more precise check against the originals, for example, color-coding for the carving work, color matching several times after finishing the test printing, etc..., but this difficult reprint project was achieved by the full ge is a monumental work of Ukiyo-e prints renowned in the world as well as Japan.
Speaking of Fireworks in Edo period, in the area near of Ryogoku bridge, it was famous as a summer evening event in cool-breeze, many people came to there. There were houseboats to enjoy Fireworks on Sumida river. Hiroshige captured a moment when Fireworks burst across the sky and draw with his unique representation. A warehouses for a Shogunate controlled ship is drawn in the distant view, and a technique "Unmo Zuri (Printing with mica powder)" to be added a contact point with the sky is effective.
