Original woodblock print – Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) – ‘Numadu’沼津 – From the “Fifty-three Stations of the Tôkaidô”東海道五十三次之内 (aka First Tôkaidô) – Japan – ca 1833-34

Description

Original woodblock print – Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) – ‘Numadu’沼津 – From the “Fifty-three Stations of the Tôkaidô”東海道五十三次之内 (aka First Tôkaidô) – Japan – ca 1833-34

Utagawa Hiroshige was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist, considered the last great master of that tradition.

The 12th Station is the village of Numazu. Hiroshige’s print depicts three travelers making their journey along a bank, heading towards the village. One of the travellers appears to be carrying a large face on his back: an iconic Tengu mask. Tengu is a Japanese folk figure generally considered to be a Shinto god and is often seen in ukiyo-e prints.

The 53 Stations of the Tōkaidō are the rest areas along the Tōkaidō, which was a coastal route that ran from Nihonbashi in Edo(Tokyo)to Sanjō Ōhashi in Kyoto. A lot of famous artists, like Utagawa Hiroshige, also painted this.
The Hōeidō edition of the Tōkaidō is Hiroshige’s best known work, and the best sold ever ukiyo-e Japanese prints.

Hiroshige’s work came to have a marked influence on Western painting towards the close of the 19th century as a part of the trend in Japonism.
Western artists closely studied Hiroshige’s compositions, and some, such as van Gogh, painted copies of Hiroshige’s prints.