Hiroshige — Selected Works

Sparrows and Camellia in Snow

Utagawa Hiroshige — 1826

Of the two versions of this design in the Art Institute's collection, this image is accepted as the earlier printing of this famous design. The poetry appearing on both impressions has been identified by the scholar Suzuki Juzo as the first two lines of an unsigned Chinese poem entitled “Inquiry of a Stork” by Hakurakuten (772–846). It reads: Crows and storks fight over something to eat and sparrows over where to sleep, You stand there all alone by the pond, the wind blows and snow piles up. Text: Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0

Collection: The Art Institute of Chicago · CC0 · Source image ↗

Mandarin Ducks and Flowering Plants

Utagawa Hiroshige — 1830

In Asian painting, ducks are usually shown in pairs because a male and female mate for life. They symbolize fidelity and tranquility. The presence of another duck is suggested here by the gesture of the bird's head. Notice the variety of brushstrokes and ink tones used to depict the duck's plumage. The bird and flower genre is a popular theme in the paintings and prints of the Kelvin Smith Collection. Kachoga, or bird and flower pictures, became popular among collectors in Japan during the 19th century, due in large part to Hiroshige. Although better known for his landscape prints, Hiroshige made several exceptional prints of birds, plants, and animals that reveal his keen observation of nature.

Collection: The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image ↗

Night Rain at the Azuma Shrine (from the series Eight Views of the Environs of Edo)

Utagawa Hiroshige — 1830

Here Hiroshige reinterprets the traditional Chinese poetic and artistic theme of Eight Views of Xiaoxiang , a scenic region in southeast China . Inspired by “rain at night on the Xiaoxiang,” Hiroshige instead places travelers near Azuma Jinja Shrine in an Edo (present-day Tokyo) suburb. Synthetic blue pigment, imported from the West and wildly popular in the early 1800s, adds vibrancy to the muted landscape. Thin, ruler-straight diagonal lines of white ink evoke the driving rain.

Collection: The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image ↗

Evening Snow at Asuka Hill, from the series Eight Views of the Environs of Edo

Utagawa Hiroshige — 1832

This print series was first privately produced for the Taihaidō poetry club led by a “wild” or comic verse (kyōka) poet with the humorous pen name Taihaidō Donshō (or Nomimasu), which translates to “Hall of the Large Cup, Swallow a Liter (or Drink).” The initial print had three poems by members of the club at the top. This print, released as part of a public set of the series later on, has but a single poem, not featured in the original, which reads: The snow falling heavily in the dusk not only covers up signs that warn against breaking branches of the cherry trees on Asuka Hill, but breaks down the branches, as well. It is signed Shōyōan Kōjin (or Takahito), which means “Hermitage of Pine and Cherry, High Person.”

Collection: The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image ↗

Driving Rain at Shōno, from Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaidō

Utagawa Hiroshige — 1833

Utagawa Hiroshige’s design for this print captures the atmospheric qualities of rain and its effects on two groups of travelers. Three printing blocks were required to produce the three shades of gray used to suggest distance in the thickets of bamboo in the background. The publisher’s name, “Takenouchi,” and part of the series title, Fifty-Three Stations , are written on one person’s umbrella. Hiroshige created many different print series on the Tokaidō, a road that ran from Kyoto to Edo (now Tokyo). Shōno was a minor way station along this largely coastal route.

Collection: The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image ↗

Night Rain at Karasaki, from Eight Views of Ōmi

Utagawa Hiroshige — 1833

The sacred Karasaki Pine was a famous sight on the shores of Lake Biwa. Its branches, supported by a framework of bamboo poles, sheltered a shrine beneath. The poem on this print reads as follows: Yielding to the sound in the evening rain, and drawing near to the evening wind, he grows famous, the pine tree of Karasaki. —Translation by Matthi Forrer

Collection: The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image ↗

Evening Snow at Kambara (number sixteen of the series Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido)

Utagawa Hiroshige — 1833

The coastal town of Kambara rarely experiences snowfall. Illustrating falling snow is particularly suited to woodblock prints. The snowflakes are created by carving their shapes out of the woodblock. When the surface of the block is inked and printed, the carved areas are represented by the unprinted white paper. This print may be the first by Hiroshige to depict falling snow.

Collection: The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image ↗

Nagakubo (Station 28) from the series Sixty-Nine Stations of the Kisokaido

Utagawa Hiroshige — 1835

The inland road connecting Edo (present-day Tokyo) and Kyoto, the Kisokaidō had 69 post stations, similar to contemporary freeway rest areas. These prints of the mountainous Kisokaidō offered urban print collectors views of scenic spots without the inconveniences of travel. Moonlight silhouettes travelers leaving the Nagakubo station, while a figure with a walking stick approaches it across the Wada Bridge. In the foreground, a man leading his weary horse gazes at the moon while children play with dogs.

Collection: The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image ↗

Shimosuwa, from Sixty-Nine Stations of the Kisokaidō

Utagawa Hiroshige — 1835

This print shows travelers enjoying a meal at an inn, with the innkeeper looking pleased at the guests’ enthusiasm. In the background, another traveler is gratefully relaxing in a wooden tub filled with hot natural spring water, having discarded his robe next to the bath. Shimosuwa was the only stop along the Kisokaidō—a 534-kilometer (332-mile) road running from Nihonbashi in Edo (now Tokyo) to Sanjō Ōhashi in Kyoto—with a natural hot spring. The print series was a collaboration between Utagawa Hiroshige and Keisai Eisen (1790–1848).

Collection: The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image ↗

Nissaka: The Night-Weeping Stone at Sayo no Nakayama, from the series The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō

Utagawa Hiroshige — 1843

This print is an image of a mountain pass in Nissaka, one of the stops along the Tōkaidō, a road running from Kyoto to Edo (present-day Tokyo). This scene alludes to a legend in which bandits murdered a pregnant woman on that stretch of road, and her blood fell upon a stone. Shown in the foreground, the stone is said to contain the woman’s spirit, and so it weeps each night. In some versions of the story, the stone’s cry alerts a passing monk (really the disguised bodhisattva Kannon) to the presence of her infant, who survived the attack. The monk takes the child from the deceased mother’s body, and raises it as his own. The child goes on to avenge its mother.

Collection: The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image ↗

Hotohoto Festival at Izumo Grand Shrine, from the series Views of Famous Places in the Sixty-odd Provinces

Utagawa Hiroshige — 1853

Izumo Shrine is a Shinto shrine on Honshu Island. The Japanese believe that Shinto kami (divine spirits) leave their own shrines for a month in October or November—depending on the lunar calendar—and travel to Izumo Shrine. During this time, a festival is held in which celebrants carrying lighted torches lead the kami to the shrine.

Collection: The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image ↗

Plum Garden at Kameido (Kameido Umeyashiki), from the series "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei)"

Utagawa Hiroshige — 1856

This print is one of Utagawa Hiroshige’s most recognizable designs due to its innovative composition and unexpected colors—especially the reddish sky. The tree filling the composition was the most famous tree in Edo (now Tokyo), said to resemble a sleeping dragon. The image was famously copied by Vincent van Gogh in 1887 in his painting Flowering Plum Orchard (After Hiroshige) . Text: Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0

Collection: The Art Institute of Chicago · CC0 · Source image ↗

View from Massaki of Suijin Shrine, Uchigawa Inlet, and Sekiya (Massaki hen yori Suijin no mori Uchigawa Sekiya no sato o miru zu), from the series "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei)"

Utagawa Hiroshige — 1857

In this distinctive design, we see an inlet through part of a round window. This elegant room is likely a famous restaurant with a stunning view of the Sumida River. The plum blossoms outside point to a date in early spring. The solid-colored wall frames the jewellike landscape beyond. Text: Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0

Collection: The Art Institute of Chicago · CC0 · Source image ↗

Eight Views of Kanazawa at Night

Utagawa Hiroshige — 1857

Late in his career, Hiroshige explored the poetic theme of setsugekka , “snow, moon, and flowers,” in a set of three triptychs. This panoramic scene shows the autumn moon over Kanazawa, near Tokyo. Hiroshige’s contemporaries would have recognized the coastline dotted with villages, fishing boats, and the distinctive double-arched bridge at the bottom right.

Collection: The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image ↗

Fireworks at Ryōgoku (Ryōgoku hanabi), from the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei)

Utagawa Hiroshige — 1858

In this dramatic woodblock print, lanterns glow aboard boats drifting on the Sumida River while fireworks explode in the clear, moonless night sky overhead. The setting is late summer or early fall, the hottest time of the year, and those who can afford the recreation enjoy the cool of the evening on pleasure boats. The remaining light from the fireworks permits the viewer to make out the details of travelers crowding the bridge and buildings on the far shore. Text: Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0

Collection: The Art Institute of Chicago · CC0 · Source image ↗