Akabane in the snow
Description
Series: Fifty-Three Posting Stations of Tōkaidō
The Tōkaidō highway (Eastern Sea Route) between Kyoto and Edo (now Tokyo), built-in early times, rose to prominence at the beginning of the 17th century CE with the selection of Edo as the military capital of Japan. This highway is divided into 53 convenient stages of rest steps, with inns and restaurants at each. In 1832, Hiroshige was invited to join an embassy of officials to the imperial court. The resulting series of prints Tōkaidō gojūsan-tsugi [Fifty-Three Posting Stations of Tōkaidō]; a product of his sketching of the journey, was extremely successful and led to the firm establishment of his artistic reputation. The set of 55 prints (the 53 stations plus the cities of Edo and Kyoto at either end of the highway) in their unique combination of romance and realism, set a new trend in Japanese prints. This series paved the way for the depiction of the whole range of Japan’s scenic beauties in a manner that the common person could readily appreciate. When Europe rediscovered Japanese print at the end of the 19th century, Hiroshige gave Western artists such as Cezanne, Toulouse-Lautrec, Gaugin, and Van Gogh a new vision of nature.
Collection
Japanese Art
Artist
Hiroshige
Object Type
Painting Woodblock print
Material
Woodblock print; ink and colour on paper
Schools/Culture/Period
Edō period
Technique
Woodblock
Date
17th century CE; 18th century CE
Location
Japan
Dimension
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