Sudden Shower over Shin Ohashi Bridge and Atake (Ohashi Atake no yudachi), from the series "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei)"
Medium
Color woodblock print; oban
Dimensions
33.4 × 21.8 cm (13 1/4 × 8 5/8 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
26545
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
This image of travelers caught in a sudden downpour on a bridge is instantly recognizable to fans of Utagawa Hiroshige. To create the dark, rolling clouds at the top of the composition, a printer applied the gradation by hand in a scalloped shape rather than the usual straight line.
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...