Dewa Province: Mogami River and a Distant View of Mount Gassan (Dewa, Mogamigawa, Gassan enbo), from the series "Famous Places in the Sixty-odd Provinces (Rokujuyoshu meisho zue)"
Medium
Color woodblock print; oban
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
196839
Art Historical Context
Utagawa Hiroshige’s 1853 woodblock print *Dewa Province: Mogami River and a Distant View of Mount Gassan* belongs to his ambitious series *Famous Places in the Sixty-odd Provinces*. Created late in the artist’s career, the work captures the serene expanse of the Mogami River winding toward the sacred peak of Mount Gassan in what is now Yamagata Prefecture. Hiroshige, celebrated for his sensitive landscapes in the ukiyo-e tradition, transforms a regional vista into a poetic meditation on nature’s quiet grandeur. Printed in luminous color on an oban sheet—the standard large format for single-sh...
About the Artist
Utagawa Hiroshige · 1826–1869
Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858), born Andō Tokutarō, was the last great master of Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock printmaking and one of the most influential landscape artists in history. Born in Edo (modern Tokyo) into a low-ranking samurai family serving as fire wardens, Hiroshige transformed landscape printmaking into a poetic meditation on nature, weather, and everyday life. His revolutionary approac...