Evening View of Eight Famous Sites at Kanazawa (Buyo Kanazawa hassho yakei)
Medium
Color woodblock prints; oban triptych
Dimensions
35.9 × 74.9 cm (14 1/8 × 29 1/2 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
21631
Art Historical Context
Step into the twilight glow of 19th-century Japan with Utagawa Hiroshige'sEvening View of Eight Famous at Kanazawa (Buy Kanazawa hassho yi)*, a stunning 1857 color woodblock print triptych. This panoramic oban-format work, measuring 35.9 × 74.9 cm, masterfully captures eight iconic landmarks of Kanazawa—a prosperous castle town in Japan's Ishikawa Prefecture—bathed in the soft hues of dusk. Hiroshige, a leading figure in the ukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating world") movement, renders pagodas, bridges, and misty mountains with his signature poetic sensitivity to light and atmosphere. Created ...
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...