Seki: Priest Ikkyu and the Hell Courtesan, from the series "Fifty-three Pairings for the Tokaido Road (Tokaido gojusan tsui)"
c. 1845/46
Medium
Color woodblock print; section of oban sheet
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
28241
Art Historical Context
In the vibrant world of 19th-century Japanese ukiyo-e, Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858) crafted this captivating color woodblock print around 1845–46. Titled *Seki: Priest Ikkyu and the Hell Courtesan*, it forms part of his ingenious series *Fifty-three Pairings for the Tokaido Road (Tokaido gojusan tsui)*. Hiroshige, renowned for his poetic landscapes like the original *Tokaido* series, here playfully reimagines the famed Edo-period highway's 53 stations by pairing them with legendary figures, blending travelogue tradition with historical and mythical narratives. At the Seki station, Hiroshige ...
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...