Utagawa Hiroshige, "Kakewawa"

   This week let's take another trip to Japan, and the wonderful woodblock artist, Utagawa Hiroshige, (1797-1858).   This is a straight forward image of people crossing a bridge.   But, I have discovered, this is a very important scene.   Kakewawa is now a large city in Southwest Japan.   When Hiroshige created this art it was number 26 out of 53 stations along a primary road called the Tokaido Road.   This road linked Shogun capital, Edo to the imperial capital, Kyoto, so it became the main travel and transport artery of old Japan.  Each of the 53 stations offered food and lodging to the travelers.  

   I think it is fairly safe to assume that the buildings seen on the very left side are the stations quarters for tired and hungry travelers.   Kakewawa is on the Pacific Ocean, so also, safe to assume that that is what Hiroshige shows us in the distance.   When this series was completed, it was immediately popular for again, we can assume people were immediately able to identify the location.

   The series is titled, "Fifty Three Stations of the Tokaido".  They are all horizontal landscapes.  Another interesting fact is that Hiroshige took advantage of the new possibilities offered by Western representation of perspective.   What this means is Japanese artists had seen Western paintings and picked up new ways of showing distance.  This is quite humorous because the great European painters Manet, Van Gogh, Cezanne (and others) were completely swept up in the skills, images by Hiroshige and other Japanese artists.  

   I always include a work's size in the last bit of information, because I find it illuminating.  Understanding if a work is a huge mural or intimate portrait provides an idea of the impact when seeing the original.   Today's print is a mere 6 11/16 inches high by 9 inches wide - very small.   I believe prints were sold quite cheaply, so every traveler could purchase one, probably as a record of their journey.  

   I am drawn to Hiroshige's work I think simply because it offers an opportunity to peek into a country I find amazing, but probably will never see.  Japan offers an amazing and cultivated culture, so thank you, Utagawa Hiroshige.    

  Kakewawa is part of the Clarence Buckingham Collection at the Art Institute of Chicago.  It is 26 of the series, "Fifty Three Stations of the Tokaido" created between 1832 and 1842.   

Make Art a part of your life, it's a beautiful thing to do.