- Hiroshige expresses the beauty of Japan
- Biography of Utagawa Hiroshige
- Utagawa Hiroshige’s masterpiece
- Popularity and Features of Utagawa Hiroshige
- Utagawa Hiroshige’s reputation in Japan
- Utagawa Hiroshige’s reputation abroad
- Rivalry? Differences in style between Hiroshige and Hokusai
- Summary of Utagawa Hiroshige
Hiroshige expresses the beauty of Japan
Utagawa Hiroshige was an Ukiyo-e artist active in the late Edo period in Japan.
Utagawa Hiroshige established a new genre of Ukiyo-e, depicting Japanese landscapes called “Meisho-e”. His most famous works are “Tokaido gojusan-tsugi”(Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido). Utagawa Hiroshige and his beautiful and lively depictions of Tokaido, Mount Fuji, and other Japanese landscapes and people’s lives made him a pioneer of Ukiyo-e. His works become highly evaluated in Japan and abroad.
Biography of Utagawa Hiroshige
Utagawa Hiroshige was born in 1797 in Edo (present-day Tokyo).
In 1811, at the age of 15, Hiroshige, who had an artistic mind, was introduced to Utagawa Toyohiro, and the following year he made his debut as an Ukiyo-e artist under the name “Utagawa Hiroshige”, taken from one letter of his master’s name and his own name. As an Ukiyo-e artist, he started out by painting portraits of actors and beauties, but steadily built up his skills and later worked on “Kacho-ga” (flower-and-bird pictures) and other works.
In 1832, he published “Tokaido gojusan-tsugi” (Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido), a series of famous landmarks. His series of famous landmark paintings depicting beautiful Japanese landscapes, such as “Edo Meisho”, became his masterpiece and pioneered a new genre of Ukiyo-e.
Utagawa Hiroshige, known as a prolific artist along with Katsushika Hokusai, is said to have created as many as 20,000 works, and in addition to his “Meisho-e” series, he continued to try his hand at a variety of other works, including “Rekishi-ga” (historical picutres), “Shun-ga” (pornographic pictures), “Nikuhitsu-ga” (pictures by hand), and “Uchiwae” ( pictures to be pasted on fans).
In 1858, Utagawa Hiroshige died at the age of 61 from cholera, a pandemic at the time.
Utagawa Hiroshige’s masterpiece
Utagawa Hiroshige「The Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido」
“Tokaido gojusan-tsugi” (Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido), a series of Ukiyo-e depicting 53 post towns along the Tokaido Highway during the Edo period (1603-1868), was published between 1831 and 1834. These Hiroshige’s masterpiece of famous landmarks are still loved around the world today for its accurate depiction of the characteristics of each of the 53 inn towns.
Utagawa Hiroshige「One Hundred Famous Views of Edo」
“Meisho Edo hyakkei” (One hundred Famous Views of Edo) is a series of Ukiyo-e and Meisho-e (Ukiyo-e of famous place) by Utagawa Hiroshige depicting the streets and scenes of Edo. They were published from 1856 to 1858. With bright, vivid colors and bold compositions, they represents the lives of people living in the towns of Edo and the liveliness and bustle of the city.
Utagawa Hiroshige 「Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji」
“Fuji sanju-rokkei” (Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Hiroshige)) is a series of Ukiyo-e and Meisho-e by Utagawa Hiroshige depicting Mount Fuji from various angles. They were published by Kihei Sanoya in 1852 and by Kichizo Tsutaya in 1859. The 36 scenic spots along the Tokaido Highway during the Edo period are depicted in “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji,” and Hiroshige’s realistic style depicts the beauty of four seasons in Japan, the magnificent scenery with Mount Fuji, and travelers admiring Mount Fuji.
Popularity and Features of Utagawa Hiroshige
Bright and vivid Hiroshige colors
Utagawa Hiroshige’s works are characterized by the extensive use of bright and vivid colors, creating a gorgeous atmosphere in his works. The beautiful gradation of indigo, also known as “Hiroshige Blue” or “Japan Blue”, is used a new pigment imported from Europe at that time, creating an effect that strongly impresses his works. The beauty of “Hiroshige Blue” seen in his works strongly influenced French impressionist painters.
Hiroshige’s concise line drawings
The works of Utagawa Hiroshige are particularly characterized by their very concise and simple line drawings among other Ukiyo-e. His works represent the shape and beauty of the landscape, and even the movement of the air in his concise designs, showing his commitment to simple lines.
The skill of Hiroshige’s composition
Utagawa Hiroshige gave depth and dynamism to landscapes through his skillful compositions captured from his own viewpoint. Many works in his Meisho-e series feature ingenious use of perspective and point of view, indicating his emphasis on overall picture balance. “Meisho Edo hyakkei (One hundred Famous Views of Edo)”, “Ohashi atake no yudati”, and “Kameido Umeyashiki” are works in which his attention to composition and perspective can be seen strongly.
Thus, his works with their bright and vivid colors, concise line drawings, and skillful composition, had a strong impact on the people of Edo at the time.
Utagawa Hiroshige’s reputation in Japan
Utagawa Hiroshige, active in the late Edo period, remains one of the most important Ukiyo-e artists in the history of Japanese art, and is still highly regarded both in Japan and abroad.
Hiroshige had such an enormous influence on later Japanese art that his influence can be seen in the works of Okakura Tenshin and Yokoyama Taikan, both of whom are cited as masters of Japanese painting.
The Meisho-e series, Ukiyo-e by Hiroshige, vividly depicts beautiful Japanese landscapes and people’s lives, evoking nostalgia of Japanese people.
In Japan, many works paying homage to Hiroshige’s Meisho-e series have been produced, and products and novelties printed with his works are widely distributed. The Ukiyo-e card enclosed in Nagatanien’s “Ochazuke Nori” may remind some people of this long-loved campaign. His works have been gaining national popularity throughout the ages.
Utagawa Hiroshige’s reputation abroad
Utagawa Hiroshige’s beautiful and bold Ukiyo-e works have influenced artists not only in Japan but also around the world.
French Impressionist painters are said to have been particularly influenced by Utagawa Hiroshige. The vivid colors of his work, known as “Hiroshige blue,” and his style of creating a sense of depth through skillful composition, inspired many French Impressionist painters. Among the French Impressionist painters said to have been influenced by Utagawa Hiroshige are Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Vincent van Gogh, and Paul Cezanne.
Claude Monet was a collector of Hiroshige’s Ukiyo-e. His early works show the strong influence of Hiroshige’s “One Hundred Famous Views of Edo”, in terms of composition and expression of water surface. It is also believed that Hiroshige’s method of expression in capturing momentary impressions influenced Claude Monet’s later series of paintings, such as “Water Lilies” and “Piles of Straw”.
Vincent van Gogh was also collector of Hiroshige Utagawa’s Ukiyo-e, and one of the artists influenced by Hiroshige’s “Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido” and other works. Among them, Hiroshige’s “Meisho Edo hyakkei” (One hundred Famous Views of Edo), a series of Meisho-e, is said to have made a strong impression on van Gogh and his admiration for Japan, and he left copies of “Ohashi Atake no Yadachi” and “Kameido Umeyashiki”.
This fascination with Ukiyo-e by French Impressionist painters made Utagawa Hiroshige widely known throughout the world. Hiroshige’s works are still highly acclaimed around the world today.
Rivalry? Differences in style between Hiroshige and Hokusai
Utagawa Hiroshige, born in 1797, and Katsushika Hokusai, born in 1760, are of a similar age to father and son, but both were active as Ukiyo-e artists in Edo at about the same time.
Katsushika Hokusai’s masterpiece “Fugaku sanjurokkei” (Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji) was published in 1831, while Utagawa Hiroshige’s masterpiece “Tokaido gojusan-tsugi” (Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido) was published in 1833, and it is said that Hiroshige and Hokusai were such rivals that they are called “two greatest masters of Ukiyo-e and Fukei-ga”.
Difference between Hokusai’s style and Hiroshige’s style
Katsushika Hokusai is known as a productive painter, along with Hiroshige, and left behind Meisho-e series such as “Fugaku sanju-rokkei” (Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji) and “Shokoku taki meguri” (A Tour of Waterfalls in Various Provinces). His style is characterized by bold composition and dynamic deformation.
The difference in style between Hiroshige and Hokusai can be seen in the many works in Hiroshige’s Meisho-e. We can feel emotion from bold compositions with the calm atmosphere of the landscapes, the finely detailed expressions of people’s lives, and so on.
Because of this difference in their styles, some critics have described Hiroshige as a naturalist and Hokusai as an expressionist. Both Hiroshige and Hokusai are important Ukiyo-e artists essential to the history of Japanese art, and both are still highly regarded today.
Hiroshige, who saw Hokusai as his rival
Although there is a 40 year age difference between Utagawa Hiroshige and Katsushika Hokusai, Hiroshige was always conscious of his senior Ukiyo-e artist, Katsushika Hokusai.
According to Hiroshige IV, in his later years Utagawa Hiroshige used “Hokusai-like” or “not Hokusai-like” as a criterion for judging his paintings. In his introduction to his picture book “Fujimi Hyakuzu” (One Hundred Views of Fuji), Hiroshige wrote “Katsushika Hokusai’s works give priority to interesting designs, and Fuji is only a side effect.”
The public at the time seemed to value Utagawa Hiroshige more than Katsushika Hokusai, but Hiroshige himself may have had a passionate rivalry with Hokusai.
Through their friendly rivalry, the two artists continued to pursue new forms of expression in Ukiyo-e, and the artistic quality of Ukiyo-e was developed.
Summary of Utagawa Hiroshige
Utagawa Hiroshige’s Meisho-e series depicted famous Japanese landmarks such as Tokaido and Mount Fuji, as well as the lifestyles and culture of the Japanese people at the time by using bright, vivid colors such as “Hiroshige Blue” and skillful compositions. Hiroshige’s Ukiyo-e became a big boom, especially among French impressionists, and these and beautiful Japanese landscapes were highly acclaimed around the world.
Utagawa Hiroshige is highly regarded not only in Japan but throughout the world. In particular, he is known for his great influence on Impressionist painters, which led to the spread of Japanese Ukiyo-e throughout the world.
