Yamato Province: Tatsuta Mountain and Tatsuta River (Yamato, Tatsutayama, Tatsutagawa), from the series "Famous Places in the Sixty-odd Provinces (Rokujuyoshu meisho zue)""
Medium
Color woodblock print; oban
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
130535
Art Historical Context
In Utagawa Hiroshige's masterful color woodblock print *Yam Province: Tatsuta Mountain and Tatsuta River (1853), part of his renowned series *Famous Places the Sixty-odd Provinces*Rokujuyoshu meisho zue*), we glimpse the serene beauty of ancient Yamato Province—now Nara Prefecture. Hiroshige, a leading figure in Japan's ukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating world") movement, captures the Tatsuta River winding gracefully past Tatsuta Mountain, framed by autumn foliage and distant peaks. Printed in the large oban format (about 10 x 14 inches), this work invites viewers into a poetic landscape that ...
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...