Yoshiwara: Fuji Marsh and Ukishima Plain (Yoshiwara, Fuji no numa ukishima ga hara), no. 15 from the series "Famous Sights of the Fifty-three Stations (Gojusan tsugi meisho zue)," also known as the Vertical Tokaido
Medium
Color woodblock print; oban
Dimensions
37.9 × 26 cm (14 15/16 × 10 1/4 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
47777
Art Historical Context
Welcome to the Art Institute of Chicago's Arts of Asia collection, where Utagawa Hiroshige *Yoshiwara: Fuji and Ukishima Plain (1855) captivates with its serene landscape. This color woodblock print, number 15 from the series *Famous Sights of the Fifty-three Stations*—also called the Vertical Tōkaidō—depicts a sweeping view near the Yoshiwara post station along Japan's historic Tōkaidō road, connecting Edo (modern Tokyo) to Kyoto. Hiroshige, a master of the ukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating world") school, immortalized these roadside scenes during the late Edo period, evoking the era's wande...
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...