Morning Market at Nihon Bridge (Nihonbashi, asaichi), section of a sheet from the series "Cutouts of Famous Places in Edo (Harimaze Koto meisho)"
Medium
Color woodblock print; section of harimaze sheet (uncut sheet: 1939.1288)
Dimensions
15 × 12.8 cm (5 15/16 × 5 1/16 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
60505
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant streets of 19th-century Edo (modern-day Tokyo) with Utagawa Hiroshige *Morning Market at Nihon Bridge (ihonbashi, asaichi)*, a lively 1852 color woodblock print from the *Cutouts of Famous Places in Edo (imaze Koto meisho)*. This intimate scene captures the bustling dawn market at Nihonbashi, the "Japan Bridge" that served as the heart of the city's commerce and transportation network. Hiroshige, a master of the ukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating world") tradition, fills the compact 15 × 12.8 cm panel with vendors hawking fresh fish and produce, their colorful kimonos and...
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...