No. 12: Shinmachi, from the series "Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaido (Kisokaido rokujukyu tsugi no uchi)"
c. 1835/38
Medium
Color woodblock print; oban
Dimensions
24.3 × 36.5 cm (9 9/16 × 14 3/8 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
26483
Art Historical Context
Utagawa Hiroshige *No. 12: Shinmachi, from the "Sixty-nine Stations the Kisokaido"*c. 1835/38) captures the essence of travel along one of Japan's historic highways during the Edo period. This color woodblock print is part of Hiroshige's renowned series, which depicts the 69 post stations (and additional stops) on the Kisokaido route—a rugged inland path connecting Edo (modern Tokyo) to Kyoto, paralleling the more famous coastal Tokaido road. Created amid Japan's isolationist sakoku policy, these prints offered urban viewers vicarious journeys through stunning landscapes, evoking wanderlust an...
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...