Hiroshige is often considered the master of landscape prints. The Fifty-three Stations of the Eastern Sea Route series, to which this print belongs, made him famous. The Tokaido, or "Eastern Sea Route," stretched from Edo (present day Tokyo) to Kyoto with fifty-three stopping places. Hiroshige's sophisticated use of soft lines, rounded forms, dark sky, and subtle tones convey the utter silence and weariness of the figures, making this one of the artist's finest works.
The Museum owns four impressions of this print, none from the first impression. Variations came from manipulations of the same blocks, depending upon the skill and taste of the printer. In this case, the first impression has a heavily inked area at the upper portion of the sky. Wiping off part of the darker pigment, the printer created the gradation effect. Had the dark sky descended too far, the title would have been covered. The sky appears only in a flat grey that reduces the dramatic effect.
During the second or third impression the printer remedied this effect by moving the heavily inked area to the lower portion behind the hills and trees, creating a far more impressive night scene with a stronger contrast. While the original first impression has sharper lines, the alternative impression is more dramatic for reproduction.
Of the Museum's four prints, 1948/1.122 is the earliest impression, followed by .124 and .123. In the latest version, .125, the troublesome gradations are almost omitted, with the sky appearing only in flat gray. By this time, however, the original blocks were no longer complete, and the footprints totally disappeared, greatly reducing both the snow and night effects.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
Hiroshige is often considered the master of landscape prints. The Fifty-three Stations of the Eastern Sea Route series, to which this print belongs, made him famous. The Tokaido, or "Eastern Sea Route," stretched from Edo (present day Tokyo) to Kyoto with fifty-three stopping places. Hiroshige's sophisticated use of soft lines, rounded forms, dark sky, and subtle tones convey the utter silence and weariness of the figures, making this one of the artist's finest works.
The Museum owns four impressions of this print, none from the first impression. Variations came from manipulations of the same blocks, depending upon the skill and taste of the printer. In this case, the first impression has a heavily inked area at the upper portion of the sky. Wiping off part of the darker pigment, the printer created the gradation effect. Had the dark sky descended too far, the title would have been covered. The sky appears only in a flat grey that reduces the dramatic effect.
During the second or third impression the printer remedied this effect by moving the heavily inked area to the lower portion behind the hills and trees, creating a far more impressive night scene with a stronger contrast. While the original first impression has sharper lines, the alternative impression is more dramatic for reproduction.
Of the Museum's four prints, 1948/1.122 is the earliest impression, followed by .124 and .123. In the latest version, .125, the troublesome gradations are almost omitted, with the sky appearing only in flat gray. By this time, however, the original blocks were no longer complete, and the footprints totally disappeared, greatly reducing both the snow and night effects.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
Sugai lived and worked as painter, sculptor and print maker in Paris from 1952. His work is shown in major museums world-wide. He started print-making in 1952 after which it became a major part of his oeuvre. He produced some 400 prints. His style showed a major change from around 1962 when he adopted 'hard-edge' geometric imagery in contrast to he previous oriental calligraphy-influenced brush like style. [Source: http://www.wolman-prints.com/pages/artistbiog/all/s/117.html, 9/21/06]
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
The blue birds perched on snow-covered branches with red berries create a cheerful wintry scene. The bright pigments used by the artist on this print reflect Western influence.
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Utagawa Kuniyoshi is best known to Western collectors for his dramatic renderings of legendary warriors, or for his humorous prints of cats. An exceptionally versatile and prolific artist, he also designed hundreds of landscape prints, offering serious competition to his contemporary, Hiroshige.
Here we have Kuniyoshi at his most lyrical. The tiny figure in red robes, struggling against the drifting snow, is the Buddhist monk Nichiren (1222–1282). An outspoken critic of church and state, he was forced to spend many years in exile on the island of Sado. Here even the forces of nature seem allied against him, as the cold wind whips through his cleric’s robes. The print is from a series illustrating Nichiren’s life
Exhibited in "Japanese Costumes & Ceramics, Past & Present," October 2001-February 2002. Maribeth Graybill, Senior Curator of Asian Art
Inscription
Signed: Ichiyusai Kuniyoshi fude; Publisher's Seal (Modern): Watanbe 182.
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This image is one of the artist’s most familiar works. The hanging willow branches and the red bridge railing covered with snow create a poetic scene. The two figures with their faces hidden behind umbrellas evoke an atmosphere of mystique.
Shoson’s work embodies many ideas of the shin hanga movement. Shin hanga translates as “new print.” It rejuvenates ukiyo-e principles by emphasizing a scene from ordinary life, placing the figures in a landscape setting, and utilizing traditional printing methods.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
Okuhara Seiko was one of the leading women artists of Meiji period Japan. A native of Koga in Ibaraki prefecture, her father was a samurai in service to the Doi clan, and she received an traditional Confucian education in the clan school (something highly unusual for girl children). She moved to Edo in 1865, just on the eve of the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate and the establishment of the new Meiji government. She quickly found success as a professional painter, training pupils at a school she founded in Shitaya. In the early 1890s, when tastes were shifting toward Western-style art and her studio land was claimed for a railroad, she moved her residence to Kumagaya, and traveled extensively during the last two decades of her life. [Abridged and adapted from Oranda Jin, "Japanese Painters," August 2006, p. 39.]
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Signed in plate, l.l. in image: "Seymour Haden 1880" Signed in graphite, l.r. below platemark: "Seymour Haden" Verso, inscribed in graphite, l.l.: "APG 11131"
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
Also known as Kuwagata Keisai. Pupil of Kitao Shigemasa; worked until 1797 as ukiyo e artist under the name of Kitao Masayoshi, designing many prints and illustrated books. In 1797 became the official painter fo the daimyo of Tsuyama; trained in Kano style by Kano Eisen'in. (From Roberts, A Dictionary of Japanese Artists, p. 75.)
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
