Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) | The complete set of Famous Sights of the Fifty-three Stations (Gojusan tsugi meisho zue), also known as the Vertical Tokaido | Edo period, 19th century

拍品描述

THE PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN the complete set of fifty-five woodblock prints, from the series Famous Sights of the Fifty-three Stations (Gojusan tsugi meisho zue), also known as the Vertical Tokaido, each sheet signed Hiroshige hitsu (Brush of Hiroshige), censor's seal aratame (certified), published by Tsutaya Kichizo (Koeido) in 1855 (55) Each vertical oban: each approx. 36.4 x 24.3 cm., 14⅜ by 9½ in. Please contact the department for a full listing and complete set of images of each print from this lot. Hiroshige's last major series on the Tokaido. The series was produced in collaboration with the publisher Tsutaya Kichizo, who would later publish Hiroshige's Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (see Lot 224). Commonly known as the Vertical Tokaido for its distinctive vertical oban format, the series marks the period in the 1850s in which he worked almost exclusively in this orientation. The compositions draw principally from traditional gazetteer-style bird's-eye views, as well as experimentation with the kinzogata ("foreground-zoom") technique closely associated with Hiroshige's later work. Nearly all the prints employ S-shaped compositions to heighten pictorial depth. The series depicts the fifty-three post-stations along the Tokaido [lit. East Sea Road], the road connecting the new shogunal capital of Edo with the old imperial capital of Kyoto. Hiroshige first treated this subject in the celebrated Hoeido Tokaido series in 1833, which established his reputation alongside Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) as one of the foremost designers of landscape prints. The vertical format allowed Hiroshige to reimagine many of the compositions he previously depicted. No. 11, Hakone: Night Procession in the Mountains depicts a torchlit crossing of a steep mountain road. Hiroshige allows the peak of Mount Fuji to break through the upper margin of the composition in No. 14, Hara – a somewhat unusual device that emphasises the monumentality of the mountain when seen from the Hara plain. In No. 17, Yui: The Frightful Satta Ridge, Hiroshige exploits the vertical format to dramatic effect, emphasising the sheer height of the Oyashirazu cliffs. No. 20, Fuchu: Abe River foregrounds the Great Gate (Daimon) of the Miroku pleasure district, with a mounted traveller accosted at its entrance. For another example of a complete set in the collection of the British Museum, museum number 1973,0723,0.32, go to: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1973-0723-0-32 For a further example in the collection of the National Diet Library, Tokyo, reference ID 000007292995, go to: https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/1307517/1/1

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