Utagawa Hiroshige

born Edo 1797, died Edo 1858

Utagawa Hiroshige (also known as Andō Hiroshige) was born Andō Tokutarō, the eldest son of a samurai fire-fighting official in Edo (now Tokyo). In 1811 he entered the workshop of his most significant teacher, the ukiyo-e artist Utagawa Toyohiro (1773–1828), from whom he derived his artistic name.

Hiroshige's career was concomitant with a new wave of interest in landscape prints, the genre he came to epitomise both in Japan and in the West, along with his near-contemporary Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849).

Hiroshige's first series to meet with high acclaim was Famous views of the eastern capital (Toto meisho) c 1826, celebrated for its unusual colouring and distinctive views of his native Edo.

Vindicated by this success, he published another landscape series in 1833–34: Fiftythree stations of the Tokaido road (Tokaido gojûsan tsugi no uchi),
composed of views of the Tokaido, or Eastern Sea Road, that linked Edo with the capital Kyoto. Several other landscape series followed, including Famous places in the sixty-odd provinces [of Japan] ([Dai Nihon] Rokujoyosho meisho zue) in 1853 and One hundred famous views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei) 1856.

Hiroshige employed the intricate nishiki-e (polychrome printing) technique, a complex process involving printing colours from separate blocks. His richly coloured, geometric compositions were highly influential amongst French artists from the 1870s onwards: his prints featured in Monet's collection of
Japanese art and Vincent Van Gogh (1853–90) famously made copies after two of Hiroshige's One hundred famous views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei).

Source: Monet and the Impressionists exhibition catalogue:
Shackelford, George T M. Monet and the Impressionists.
Sydney: Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2008

Learn more in the exhibition:
> Monet and Japanese art

Works by Utagawa Hiroshigen the exhibition

Kanbara: night snow  Japan, Edo period c1833–34, Utagawa Hiroshige, second state, from the series Fifty-three stations of the Tōkaidō road, also known as the First Tōkaidō or Great Tōkaidō.
Woodblock print; ink and colour on paper. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: William Sturgis Bigelow Collection

Yokkaichi: Mie River  Japan, Edo period c1833–34, Utagawa Hiroshige,
from the series Fifty-three stations of the Tōkaidō road, also known as the First Tōkaidō or Great Tōkaidō.
Woodblock print; ink and colour on paper. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: William Sturgis Bigelow Collection

Kai Province: Monkey Bridge  Japan, Edo period 1853, Utagawa Hiroshige, from the series Famous places in the sixty-odd provinces [of Japan].
Woodblock print; ink and colour on paper. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: William Sturgis Bigelow Collection

Hakone: view of the lake  Japan, Edo period c1833–34, Utagawa Hiroshige,  from the series Fifty-three stations of the Tōkaidō road, also known as the First Tōkaidō or Great Tōkaidō.
Woodblock print; ink and colour on paper. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: William Sturgis Bigelow Collection

Inside Kameido Tenjin shrine  Japan, Edo period 1856, Utagawa Hiroshige,   from the series One hundred famous views of Edo.
Woodblock print; ink and colour on paper. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: gift of Dr G S Amsden