東京高輪鉄道蒸気車走行之図|Illustration of a Steam Locomotive Running on the Takanawa Railroad in Tokyo (Tōkyō takanawa tetsudō jōkisha sōkō no zu)
ca. 1873
Medium
Triptych of woodblock prints; ink and color on paper
Dimensions
14.2 x 29.1 in. (36.1 x 73.9 cm)
Classification
Prints
Culture & Period
Japan · Meiji period (1868–1912)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Lincoln Kirstein, 1959
Accession Number
JP3270
Tags
Art Historical Context
This vibrant triptych by Utagawa Kuniteru captures a steam locomotive speeding along the Takanawa Railroad near Tokyo around 1873. Created during Japan’s Meiji period, the print shows the train crossing a bridge amid rolling hills, with passengers and onlookers witnessing this new marvel of technology. Kuniteru, working in the ukiyo-e tradition, used the wide format of three joined woodblock sheets to convey motion and scale, rendering the scene in bright inks on paper. The artwork reflects Japan’s rapid modernization after 1868, when the country embraced Western engineering and infrastructur...