Gathering Cliff Fungus at Kumano, Kishu Province (Kishu kumano iwatake tori), from the series “One Hundred Views of Famous Views in the Various Provinces (shokoku meishi hyakkei)"
Medium
Color woodblock print
Dimensions
Paper: 35 × 24.2 cm (13 13/16 × 9 9/16 in.); Block: 33.2 × 21.9 cm (13 1/8 × 8 5/8 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
196817
Rights
Public Domain
Art Historical Context
In the late Edo period, Utagawa Hirosh II (Shigenobu), a gifted pupil of the master landscape artist Hiroshige I, created vivid color woodblock print in 1860 as part of his series *One Hundred Views of Views in the Various Provinces Titled *Gathering Cliff Fungus atano, Kishu Province*, it captures a daring scene from the rugged cliffs of Kumano in modern-day Wakayama Prefecture, a sacred pilgrimage site known for ancient shrines and Shinto-Buddhist heritage. Here, intrepid gatherers scale sheer rock faces to harvest *iwatake*—a prized, edible bracket fungus that clung to precarious heights, symbolizing human resilience amid nature's beauty and peril. Hiroshige II's ukiyo-e style masterfully blends meticulous detail with atmospheric drama, employing the woodblock technique where artisans carved separate blocks for each color, layering vibrant blues, greens, and earth tones to evoke misty seas and jagged peaks. This print exemplifies the genre's golden age, when such affordable images brought distant provincial wonders to urban audiences in Edo (Tokyo), fostering a national appreciation for Japan's diverse landscapes just before the Meiji era's upheavals. A gem in the Art Institute of Chicago's Arts of Asia collection, this 35 × 24.2 cm work invites us to marvel at everyday heroism and the fleeting harmony between people and their environment—timeless themes in Japanese art.
About the Artist
Utagawa Hiroshige II (Shigenobu) · 1826–1869
Utagawa Hiroshige II, born Suzuki Chinpei in 1826, was one of the most accomplished ukiyo-e artists of mid-nineteenth century Japan. He entered the studio of the celebrated landscape master Utagawa Hiroshige I — known for his iconic series "The Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido" — and proved himself the most talented of the elder artist's few students. So highly regarded was the young pupil that...