Blue Upright Desert Cactus, Extra Large Cyanotype Print in Cold Tones, 2021

Hodogaya - Reisho Tokaidodate is a beautiful color woodcut print on paper, the plate n. 5, from the series “Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi),” also known as the Reisho TokaidoDate, designed by the ukiyo-e master Utagawa Hiroshige (歌川 広重, 1797-1858). Original Title: Hodogaya: Katabira River and Katabira Brige (Hodogaya, Katabiragawa Katabirabashi). Image Dimensions: 22 x 34.4 cm. Realized in 1833 this specimen was printed a few decades later, the ending color plate includes more colors than this one, that could be considered likely a print proof. Comparing our spaciment to that preserved at the Art Institiute of Chicago. In very good condition, except for aging signs like discoloration, little abrasions of the paper on the edge, this original print, glued on cardboard, depicts a snowy Japanese landscape with the typical mastery of Hiroshige. Provenance: German private collection, assembled between the 1950s and 2000 The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō (東海道五十三次, Tōkaidō Gojūsan-tsugi), is a series of ukiyo-e woodcut prints created by Utagawa Hiroshige after his first travel along the Tōkaidō in 1832. The Tōkaidō road, linking the shōgun's capital, Edo, to the imperial one, Kyōto, was the main travel and transport artery of old Japan. This was also the most important of the "Five Roads" (Gokaidō)—the five major roads of Japan created or developed during the Edo period to further strengthen the control of the central shogunate administration over the whole country. The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō was such a popular subject that led Hiroshige to create some 30 series of woodcut prints on it, all very different one from the other by their size (ōban or chuban), their designs or even their number (some series include just a few prints). The Hōeidō edition of the Tōkaidō is Hiroshige's best known work, and the best sold ever ukiyo-e Japanese prints. Created after Hokusai's Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji series, this print series established this new major theme of ukiyo-e, the landscape print, or fūkei-ga, with a special focus on "famous views" (meisho). Hiroshige's series met a full success, not only in Japan, but later in Western countries.