東海道五十三次之内 岡部 宇津の山之図|Okabe
ca. 1842
Medium
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Dimensions
9 1/8 x 13 23/32 in. (23.2 x 34.9 cm)
Classification
Prints
Culture & Period
Japan · Edo period (1615–1868)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1918
Accession Number
JP576
Tags
Art Historical Context
**Okabe from *The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō*** Utagawa Hirosh (1797–1858), a master of ukiyo-e woodblock prints, captures the dramatic beauty of Okabe station in this vibrant scene from his renowned 1833–1834 series, with this impression dating to around 1842. Part of the Edo-period Tōkaidō highway linking Edo (modern Tokyo) to Kyoto, Okabe was infamous for its steep Utsunoyama pass—a treacherous mountain route lined with sheer cliffs. Hiroshige depicts weary travelers, including men and women, pausing at roadside tea houses, their figures dwarfed by towering peaks shrouded in mist...
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...