Night View of Saruwaka-machi (Saruwaka-machi yoru no kei), from the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei)
Medium
Color woodblock print; ōban
Dimensions
36 × 24 cm (14 3/16 × 9 7/16 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
26629
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
In this image the glow of the full moon, with just a wisp of cloud diminishing its luminosity, bathes the theater district of Edo. The teahouses (on the left) are closing for the night, and men from the shops are guiding customers to the south gate in the distance. The three prominent Kabuki theaters of the day Nakamura-za, Ichimura-za, and Morita-za—are visible on the right, although all are shuttered. It is probably late August, just before the first plays of the season open. The crowd is thin...
About the Artist
Utagawa Hiroshige · 1826–1869
Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858), born Andō Tokutarō, was the last great master of Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock printmaking and one of the most influential landscape artists in history. Born in Edo (modern Tokyo) into a low-ranking samurai family serving as fire wardens, Hiroshige transformed landscape printmaking into a poetic meditation on nature, weather, and everyday life. His revolutionary approac...