One of the most prolific masters of Japanese landscape print, Ando Hiroshige, known also as Utagawa Hiroshige, created between twelve and thirteen hundred prints of Edo alone and countless other depictions of famous places throughout Japan (Narazaki 19). Hiroshige began his career with portrayals of actors and beauties in keeping with the fashionable motifs of the time. Regarded as “too traditional and, perhaps, too high-brow for the print buying public� (“Ando Hiroshige�), landscape print had been considered defunct for quite some time, but witnessed a revitalization in the late 1820s when an increasing mobility of the populace precipitated a demand for illustrated travel guides (Jansen 7). Thus, it was not until 1826, fourteen years after the completion of his apprenticeship in 1812, that he released his first landscape series, Famous Views of the Eastern Capital. Only in 1832 did he complete the series The Fifty-three Stages of the Tokaido, for which he received his first national acclaim. This success encouraged Hiroshige to become increasingly a true landscapist (“Ando Hiroshige�), and his output increased rapidly. Between 1834 and 1839, Hiroshige produced numerous small series of the famous cities of Japan, as well the series Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaido, which demonstrates a clear stylistic evolution from his earliest prints. After 1849, Hiroshige’s landscapes saw a decline in quality, possibly as a result of his tremendous output (“Ando Hiroshige�) and possibly as a result of a decrease in demand for landscape art. However, in 1853, he reemerged as a master of landscape art with the publication of Famous Views of the Sixty Odd Provinces, and in 1856, he began what is commonly considered his chef d’oeuvre, One Hundred Famous Views of Edo. In this series, Hiroshige experimented with a vertical format and occasionally defied the traditional large-triptych layout. He died shortly after the completion of this work in 1858 and is accredited with over five thousand designs.
Could Hiroshige actually have seen all of the breathtaking sights depicted in his vast body of works? Indeed, Famous Views of the Sixty Odd Provinces includes one print of each of the sixty-eight provinces of Japan and one of Edo. In order to have sketched each of these sights from life, Hiroshige would have had to execute an exhausting pilgrimage of the island. However, Marije Jansen, author of Hiroshige’s Journey in the 60-Odd Provinces, writes of “many stories, mostly originating after [Hiroshige’s death], which tell of the many journeys Hiroshige undertook in order to make sketches for his prints,� and which imply that Hiroshige did in fact see all of the places depicted in this series (Jansen 16). The power of these tales indicates that Hiroshige probably did travel extensively. For instance, sent on a shogunal delegation to Kyoto in 1830, it is known that Hiroshige traveled along the Tokaido, the eastern sea road, and created The Fifty-three Stages of the Tokaido from sketches done on this journey. Yet, Jansen tells us that he probably “relied on drawings found in old printed guidebooks on famous places in Japan for most of the prints,� it being common for artists to base their designs on older sources (Jansen17). Furthermore, because Japanese landscapes were often inspired by poetry or traveler’s descriptions, Hiroshige would not have felt compelled to base his designs on the truth of the scenes. Jansen concludes that it is likely that “Edo and its environs were the only places that Hiroshige actually visited� (Jansen 17). Thus, like Whistler, Hiroshige painted “from the knowledge of a lifetime� (“Whistler�) – his works were inspired by a technical understanding of landscape design and the artistic inspiration of a master printmaker.
Hiroshige, Utagawa. The Torch Shrine in Oki Province, 1853.
Hiroshige, Utagawa. Drum Bridge and the Setting Sun Hill, 1856-58.