Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858)
Nearby the village Shono in the province of Ise – Travellers are running away from a havy summer downpour which is beating the bamboo grove and endangers the open umbrellas to be teared away.
Title: Shôno - hakuu (Shôno, Sudden Rain)
Series: Tôkaidô gojûsan tsugi no uchi (The 53 Stations of the Tokaido Road) (Station No 46)
Signature: Hiroshige ga
Publisher: Hôeidô (Takenouchi Magohachi)
Date: 1833-34
Size: Oban, 22,2 x 34,7 cm (picture size)
Very good impression, very fresh colours. Early state with the name of the publisher and the series' title on the umbrella. Green bokashi behind the roofs. Margins just a tiny bit trimmed. Lower margin under the picture neatly replaced. Vertical fold as often. A few small wormholes, neatly restored. Just a tiny bit soiled. Very good condition. Stamp of the Hanns Crzellitzer collection on upper right corner.
Just a few woodblock prints by Hiroshiges are as famous as this one, and this already happened during his lifetime. Numerous imprint and colour variants exist due to the different ambient effects wanted. This variant emphasizes the havy dark rain which gives this item a special expressive force. This item resembles Izzard 17b.
Compare Izzard, Hiroshige, An exhibition of selected prints and illustrated books. The Ukiyo-e Society of America, New York, 1983, Fig. 17a-e, pp 28. Forrer, Hiroshige, 2001, No 25 and 110. Ukiyo-e Taikei, vol. 14, No 46. Honolulu Museum, Michener Coll. No 17232 and 16619. MFA Boston (several variants). Strange, The Colour-Prints of Hiroshige, London 1925. Stephen Addiss (Ed.), Tôkaidô. Adventures on the Road in Old Japan. Lawrence, Kansas, 1980. Roger Keyes, Hiroshige’s Tôkaidô Prints, in: Stephen Addiss (Ed.), Tôkaidô. On the Road: Pilgrimage, Travel and Culture. Lawrence, Kansas, 1982, pp 46.
From Hiroshige's first and most important Tokaido Road series.
sold