Hara, Yoshiwara, and Kanbara, from the series "Famous Places on the Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido, Three Stations (Tokaido gojusan eki sanshuku meisho)"
c. 1830/35
Medium
Color woodblock print; oban
Dimensions
22.9 × 35.2 cm (9 × 13 7/8 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
9880
Art Historical Context
Utagawa Kuniyoshi *Hara, Yoshiwara, and Kanbara* is a captivating color woodblock print from his seriesFamous Places on the-three Stations of the Tido, Three Stations (Tokaido gojusan eki sanshuku meo)*, created around 1830–35. Part of the ukiyo-e tradition—"pictures of the floating world"— oban-sized work (22.9 × 35.2 cm) depicts three scenic stations along the historic Tokaido road, Japan's vital coastal route connecting Edo (modern Tokyo) to Kyoto. Travelers, pilgrims, and merchants traversed its 53 post stations, making them icons of Edo-period (1603–1868) culture and wanderlust. Kuniyosh...
About the Artist
Utagawa Kuniyoshi · 1797–1861
Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797–1861) was born in Edo to the silk-dyer Yanagiya Kichiyemon, originally bearing the childhood name Yoshisaburō. From a young age, he assisted in his family's pattern design work, which sharpened his innate mastery of color and textile motifs that would permeate his later prints. At around twelve years old, his prodigious drawing skills drew the attention of the renowned Utag...