Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) Japanese, Woodblock Print. Titled "Mutsu Province: View of Matsushima with a Distant Prospect of Mount Tomi," it depicts an incredible view of numerous island chains and boats from a very high vantage point. Kanji upper right and middle left. At the bottom left the artist's name is written in cursive English, and at the bottom right in the same hand is written "Matsushima, one of three Japanese scenic beauties." 

Overall Size: 14 1/2 x 10 in. 

Sight Size: 13 x 8 1/2 in. 

Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858), born Andō Tokutarō, was a master of ukiyo-e woodblocks and one of the greatest artists of the genre. Born into a samurai family, he inherited the role of fire warden for Edo Castle at age 12, a position that provided him with the leisure and income to pursue art, and he studied under master Utagawa Toyohiro. His early work consisted of traditional book illustrations and prints of actors and female beauties, but it was his shift to landscape painting in the late 1820s that brought him fame. A long trip in 1832 inspired two of his most famous series, The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō and One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, which captured the beauty of Japan's scenery with a subtle use of color and labor-intensive techniques like bokashi (color gradation). His landscapes were an atypical subject for ukiyo-e, which traditionally focused on urban pleasure, and his work had a profound impact on Western art, particularly on Impressionists like Vincent van Gogh who copied some of his prints, making him a central figure in the Japonisme movement. He died in 1858 during the Great Edo Cholera Epidemic, leaving behind a legacy of over 8,000 works. 

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