This week, we wrap up our series on Hiroshige with a few lingering questions about his career. How much does his “artistic borrowing” really matter? What’s his relationship to Hiroshiges II and III? What about his second marriage and daughter? And ultimately, what makes him so damn famous–and what can we learn from that?
Note: the “white overlay” issues many of you have been having lately are caused by an issue with my hosting service and how it interacts with WordPress. Hoping for a fix; in the meantime, you can access episodes directly via the link above.
Sources
Haft, Alfred. Hiroshige: Artist of the Open Road
Forer, Matthi. Hiroshige
A great article on the relationship between van Gogh and Hiroshige specifically
Images
The original Yodo River scene from the 1787 guidebook. Taken by me; pardon the flare over the image, as the conditions weren’t the best and I’m not yet good enough at lightroom to be able to remove stuff like that.Hiroshige’s view of the Yodo River, for comparison.Hiroshige’s “Plum Garden at Kameido”, with van Gogh’s diagram of the work. Van Gogh’s version is a translation of the original to a larger size, hence the grid used to math out the sizing.The van Gogh version.Hiroshige’s version of Sudden Shower over Ohashi and Atake, with van Gogh’s next to it.Two variations of a Hiroshige print. Taken by me in the British museum. Shows how different bokashi can change the feel of a scene.A Hiroshige II landscape from 1860.“English Polo Match” by Hiroshige III, from 1871. I love this style of early Meiji print!
2 thoughts on “Episode 593 – The Artist of the Open Road, Part 3”
Good morning,
I remember someone on my foreign exchange mentioning that the Cambridge history of Japan series (older version) was not a great source of information for some reason. I don’t remember if it was due to more information being accessible now compared to then, but I wanted to get your opinion if you ever had time.
I’m currently on episode 440 and working my way up! I love the series and thank you for all that you do.
When my wife and I were in Japan in late November last year, we took the “Hozugawa River Boat” tour which ended near Arashiyama, Kyoto, just before the Togetsukyō Bridge. The Yodo River scene really struck home because as we pulled into Arashiyama, a small boat came up to our boat to sell food, just like the Yodo River scene. It was the best mitarashi dango we got during the trip!! Below, I have included a picture of the boat with food I posted on Facebook.
Good morning,
I remember someone on my foreign exchange mentioning that the Cambridge history of Japan series (older version) was not a great source of information for some reason. I don’t remember if it was due to more information being accessible now compared to then, but I wanted to get your opinion if you ever had time.
I’m currently on episode 440 and working my way up! I love the series and thank you for all that you do.
When my wife and I were in Japan in late November last year, we took the “Hozugawa River Boat” tour which ended near Arashiyama, Kyoto, just before the Togetsukyō Bridge. The Yodo River scene really struck home because as we pulled into Arashiyama, a small boat came up to our boat to sell food, just like the Yodo River scene. It was the best mitarashi dango we got during the trip!! Below, I have included a picture of the boat with food I posted on Facebook.