The Willow Tree at the Gate of Shimabara Pleasure Quarter (Shimabara deguchi no yanagi), from the series “Famous Views of Kyoto (Kyoto meisho no uchi)"
Utagawa Hiroshige
c. 1834
Medium
Color woodblock print; oban
Dimensions
23.1 × 35.5 cm (9 1/16 × 14 5/8 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
25327
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...