Utagawa hiroshige biography of rory

Features of the artist Utagawa Hiroshige: although Katsushika Hokusai was the first to widely use landscape themes in ukiyo-e prints, Hiroshige managed to fill his landscapes with a special emotional mood, due to which they are sometimes called "Portraits of the area". In turn, he also introduced to Ukiyo-e a topic that was alien to this direction: the image of fish, birds and flowers earlier on xylographs it was customary to depict Japanese beauties and actors of the Kabuki theater.

Failed fireman The future master of woodcuts was born in the family of a hereditary samurai. Although at the time of the birth of Tokutaro as the artist called him at birth his father was in charge of the fire brigade of Edo. Subsequently, the boy's name will change again and again: by tradition, in Japan, children were often renamed to confuse evil spirits.

So, before becoming a famous artist Utagawa Hiroshige, he will have some time to be Tokubey, Juyamon and Jubei. The death of the Tokutaro family came very early. At first she came for one of three sisters. When he was 12, his mother was gone, his father died within a year.

Utagawa hiroshige biography of rory

According to custom, regardless of his young age, the boy inherited the profession of the head of the family. So the teenager began to monitor the prevention of fires in Edo Castle. Fortunately, these responsibilities left enough free time for the lesson, which was much more to his liking - drawing. His first work Tokutaro created at the age of 10 years.

He dreamed of learning from Toyokuni, the famous master of the school Utagawa. But, by a lucky coincidence, he already had too many students, and there was simply no room for one more. Good luck, researchers will call it after many years, because Toyokuni was considered an authoritarian teacher who most likely would not have allowed Hiroshige's talent to fully manifest itself.

But another teacher of the same school allowed, Toyohiro. In , he lost parents and inherited the work of fire fighter to make a living when he was only It is said that the atmosphere of loneliness in his ukiyo-e artworks is influenced by having lost parents when he was a child. He was a immediate follower of the shogunate, but the lower samurai at that time had a little salary, which was hard to support their family.

Like other lower-level samurai, he also had a side job. It was a picture to draw. But the great painter already had too many apprentices, incuding Kunimasa, Kuninaga, Kunisada, Kunimaru, Kuniyasu, Kuniyoshi, Kuninao, Kunitora, Kunitane, the second Toyokuni and Kunitsuna to take a new one. Toyohiro, the younger pupil of Toyokuni, often drew the woodblock printing of the landscape.

When released, these woodcuts were an instant success: his reputation was now assured. Indeed, the series proved so popular that he returned to the same theme as many as 20 times, as exemplified by series like the "Gyosho Tokaido" named after the cursive style of calligraphy used in the title text , the "Reisho Tokaido" after the scribes style of calligraphy , and the "Upright Tokaido" named for its upright layout.

Other Important Ukiyo-e Landscape Prints. After this, Hiroshige began work on his next series of landscape painting , which appeared in a series of Ukiyo-e prints entitled: Sixty-Nine Stations of the Kisokaido , Fine Arts Museum, San Francisco. All these works were noted for their bold colours, exquisite lyricism, sweeping perspectives and realistic spatial depth.

During the s, he worked increasingly with polychrome prints nishiki-e , creating some marvellously atmospheric pictures. Hiroshige never experienced financial security, even in old age: one reason why he continued working up to the end, even when his works declined somewhat in quality. In , he "retired from the world," and became a Buddhist monk, although this didn't stop him beginning his final work One Hundred Famous Views of Edo.

He died during the great Tokyo cholera epidemic in and his remains were interred in a Buddhist temple in Asakusa. His followers, included his two top pupils, Shigenobu Hiroshige II and Shigemasa Hiroshige III , both of whom emulated his distinctive style though without his success. Other students of Hiroshige included Shigekiyo, Shigemaru, and Hirokage.

Read artistic legacy. This painting shows Van Gogh's interest in Japanese aesthetics, but also the difference between printmaking and painting in representing depth and color, with van Gogh's copy sacrificing Hiroshige's contemplative mood in favor of dramatic layering. Caprice in Purple and Gold: The Golden Screen he depicts a woman in a kimono in front of a Japanese screen looking at Hiroshige prints.

Influences on Artist. Katsushika Hotsukai. Utagawa Kunisada. Okajima Rinsai. Utagawa Toyohiro. Vincent van Gogh. James Whistler. Claude Monet. Hiroshige II. Hiroshige III. Art Nouveau. The books and articles below constitute a bibliography of the sources used in the writing of this page. These also suggest some accessible resources for further research, especially ones that can be found and purchased via the internet.

Hiroshige Our Pick. Hiroshige's Journey in the Odd Provinces. Hiroshige: Visions of Japan Hardcover. The official website for Hiroshige Our Pick. Chronicler of a floating world Our Pick. Hiroshige: Master printmaker still making waves. Utagawa Hiroshige's vision opened up the world for everyday Japanese Our Pick. Hiroshige: Video exploring life and influence of the artist.

Hiroshige Biography Our Pick. Van Gogh, Dreaming of Japan - Hiroshige. Ukiyo-e Japanese Prints. Read more. James Abbott McNeill Whistler. Related Artists Katsushika Hokusai. Overview, Artworks, and Biography. Jeff Wall. Nikolai Astrup. Frank Lloyd Wright. Summary, History, Artworks. Nihonga - Classical Japanese Painting. Cite article.

Correct article. Related Movements.