Outbreak of Fire Seen from Hisamatsucho (Hisamatsucho nite miru shukka)
Medium
Color woodblock print; oban
Dimensions
24.5 × 36.4 cm (10 × 14 5/16 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
150410
Art Historical Context
Behold the dramatic *Outbreak of Fire Seen Hisamatsucho* (1881), a masterful color woodblock print by Kiyochika, on view in the Arts of Asia department at the Art Institute of. This oban-sized work (24.5 × 36.4 cm) a nighttime blaze raging across Tokyo's skyline, viewed from the Hisamatsucho district. Crowds of tiny figures line rooftops and streets, their lanterns flickering like fireflies against the inferno's glow—a snapshot of urban peril in Meiji-era Japan. Kiyochika, a leading ukiyo-e artist during Japan's rapid modernization, specialized in contemporary scenes like fires, which plagued...
About the Artist
Kobayashi Kiyochika · 1847–1915
Japanese, 1847–1915