Japanese Woodblock Prints
Japanese Woodblock Prints
By Utagawa Hiroshige
Utagawa Hiroshige was born in 1797 in Edo, now Tokyo.
He was one of the last great ukiyo-e masters of the colour woodblock print.
His genius for landscape compositions was first recognised in the West
by the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists.
Possessing the ability to reduce the pictured scene to a few simple,
highly decorative elements, Hiroshige captured the very essence of
what he saw and turned it into a highly effective composition.
There was in his work a human touch that no artist of the school had
heretofore achieved; his pictures revealed a beauty that seemed somehow
tangible and intimate. Snow, rain, mist, and moonlight scenes compose
some of his most poetic masterpieces.