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Japanese Art Hiroshige
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 Art Photo Pendant - ((( Hiroshige - Japanese art ))) - INCREDIBLE PRICE!!!!!  US $8.75
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 HORSE-MACKEREL and PRAWNS by Ando Hiroshige. Oriental Japanese Art Canvas Print US $18.25
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In the last couple of years I've become interested in a couple of Japanese related subjects. Zatoichi, "The Blind Samurai", which I accidentally clicked into while watching "Samurai Saturday" on the IFCTV channel is number one. In case you are not up on Zatoichi, he's a chubby, blind, Yakuza who is kinda lovable, but is deadly when it comes to cutting up people with his special sword.
The funny thing about that sword is he holds it upside down. I finally figured out that because he was blind, they wouldn't let him go to the regular Samurai school, so he just stumbled along as best he could and ended up teaching himself. I doubt he even knows he holds it upside down.
There was a guy a couple of years ago who went around in the movies claiming to be Zatoichi, but you could tell right off he was a fake, even before the first arm was cut off because he had blond hair. Zatoichi, with his shaved, monk looking hair was ahead of his time and at no time would he have dyed it blond.
My second interest is Japanese woodblock prints. Once I saw the bright colors of these Japanese style woodblock art and the everyday life of the Japanese people subject matter, I was hooked. It also interested me because those Japanese artists used the same technique, at least to me anyhow, that the old comic book printers used.
I began to read about woodblock prints and looked at a bunch of them on the Internet and in a few of those giant coffee table books that never end up on the coffee table. They are usually used by your spouse mixed in with a stack of other coffee table books to provide a steady base for a lamp. Not long after, I discovered that you could buy these prints on eBay.
Soon, I began to try to buy a print. I was most interested in seeing if I could get a Hiroshige for a good price. Hiroshige was what I would say was the Japanese version of Norman Rockwell. eBay is an excellent place to buy things. I bought a laptop, credit card terminal printer, a Sanada Hiroyuki movie, and a few other items that are now used to stack lamps on.
I almost bought an antique Samurai sword, but luck being with me I was out bid by what I eventually found out to be a shill who was bidding for the company selling the sword. He was trying to bid up the price. As a proper reward, they ended up buying their own fake, Chinese made, Japanese sword because I didn't take the bait. Of course, I didn't know all this at the time, I just didn't want to pay the price that they had bid up to.
Buying stuff on eBay takes a certain predisposition for patience, I've got some of the stuff but on the whole I would have to confess to a general shortfall of it. I made the decision and I decided that I would wade in and buy a Hiroshige woodblock that I had found, I would have gotten it too if I hadn't been outbid - in the last 30 seconds.
Now, I'm neither cynical or overly skeptical, but the fact that this person was able to skin me just a few seconds before the bell hit a sour note with me. I repeated this exercise a couple of times with the end result being I still didn't own a print. I decided that there may be some "black ops" software out there that allows one to better advantage oneself in this, the art of eBay battle.
Okay, I got to it and did a little sniffing around and sure enough, I found the software that would put me on equal footing with these 30 second guys. I did a little better than that though, the one I found would let me hold my bid close to my chest, and with only 3 seconds to go, I was able to raise and it was too late for the other guy. I'm sure he is still trying to figure it all out.
The thing that will kill a new hobby faster than anything, at least that I've been able to dig up, is that no matter how much you argue with yourself that this is the last one you are going to buy of this or that for a while, you always seem to run across another one you really can't pass on.
To prove my point in the clearest way I can think of. just go through Jeff's old posts and add up all the camera stuff he has managed to put in inventory. I'm not saying Jeff is addicted, or anything of that nature, but he sure seems to have a tendency to get more than a few fancy gadgets that he "just happened" to run across on his way to the train station.
I'm satisfied with the prints I have now and don't plan on buying any more in the near future, the chief reason being I don't ever travel by train. I have them framed and mounted on the wall of my office here at home. It's satisfying, looking at them and thinking about the Japan I remember. Of course this was after the Meiji period, but before the eBay period so I expect my memories of Japan don't match the reality of Japan.
Steve McArthur
Steve writes articles on a varity of subjects that he is interested in.
Zatoichi [http://articles101.com/document.php?id=273]
Hiroshige [http://articles101.com/document.php?id=275]
5 Of Ando Hiroshige's Best Landscape Woodblock Designs
Ando Hiroshige (1797-1858) is generally considered the greatest Ukiyo-e artist (together with the great Hokusai) of the landscape genre. He was a son of an Edo (today's Tokyo) firewarden and although he succeeded on an early age to his father's hereditary post the attraction of becoming a woodblock designer dominated. He became a student of Utagawa Toyohiro (1773-1828) and studied the classical tradition of the Kano painting style. Hiroshige was also very much interested and influenced by the Western artists and their view on depicting the landscape and the perspective. The following five woodblock designs are from two of Hiroshige's finest contributions to Japanese art, namely his series 'Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido' (c.1833-34) and 'One Hundred Famous on Edo' (c.1856-59)
Nocturnal Snowfall in Kambara (Station 16 in the series 'Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido' )
Hiroshige was fascinated by the realism of photography and the possibilities of incorporating its compositions to his woodblock designs. One of his best known examples is the Sudden Shower print which along with his Plum Garden design inspired Van Gogh. Hiroshige depicts six townspeople caught in a sudden downpour on the Ohashi bridge. On the Sumida river a raftsman, wearing a straw raincoat, tries to control his raft through the fast running water. A rather traditional scene depicting the town of Kambara covered under a thick white blanket of snow. On the right of the image two travellers walking uphill just passed by a local residant who's holding an umbrella. All three are trudging through the snow leaving their footprints while large flakes fall from the dark sky. What makes this design so extraordinary is the minimal use of colour and the skilful manner in which Hiroshige depicts snow giving this scene a forceful poetic effect. Strangely enough Kambara is situated near a warm stretch of coast, where it seldomly snows, so this scene probably represents an ebullition of Hiroshige's imagination.
Sudden Rainstorm at Shono (Station 46 in the series 'Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido' )
In this most famous of all Hiroshige's prints some inhabitants of Shono are overtaken by a sudden downpour and are running for shelter. Two palanquin bearers and their human freight are running up the steep mountain accompanied by a basket-seller. Running down the mountain are a traveller and his servant with the latter one holding an umbrella. The countryside is heavily veiled in rain with the town Shono barely visible. In this dynamic composition Hiroshige has divided the space in audacious triangles of varying depth with the two groups of figures running in opposite directions out of the frame. Hiroshige creates a perspective depth using different shades of black on the bamboo forest effectively contrasting with the overall colour composition giving it an almost idyllic feel.
Plum Orchard in Kameido (a.k.a. Plum Garden) (Print 30 in the series 'One-Hundred Views on Edo' )
Hiroshige's Plum Garden is a perfect example of the symbiotic exchange between the artists of the East and the West. In this daring composition (and in many others in this series) Hiroshige applies the repoussoir device, which was a common technique in Western art, placing a large plum-tree to the foreground with the twigs dividing the image in seperate parts. The visitors in the background, who enjoy the sight of these trees, almost look like little puppets. The red of the sky and the green of the landscape represent the two major contrasting hues and enhance the impression of uniqueness expressed by the picture. The print is probably best known as a model for Vincent van Gogh's copy in oils.
Sudden Shower at Ohashi (a.k.a. Sudden Shower) (Print 52 in the series 'One-Hundred Views on Edo' )
The vertical lines of the rain accentuated by the vertical format of the print are masterfully counterbalanced by the diagonal lines of the bridge on the foreground and the riverbank in the background. In an earlier impression (most probably an earlier "proof" state!) two addtional rafts are depicted.
Fox Fires on New Year's Eve at the Garment Nettle Tree at Oji (a.k.a. Fox fires) (Print 118 in the series 'One-Hundred Views on Edo' )
The Foxfires design is the conclusive print Hiroshige produced for his 'One-Hundred Views on Edo' -series, published shortly before his death, and is the only one in the entire series that involves the fantasy theme. This mysterious design is based on an old Japanese legend in which fox spirits (kitsune) gather around the Garment Nettle Tree on New Year's Eve. Hiroshige's terrific use of different shades of blue adds to the ominous emanation. He often used Prussian blue in his work earning him the nickname "Blue Hiroshige".
About the Author
We are specialized in Japanese woodblock prints and on our site you can find Hiroshige's Fox Fires and Sudden Shower -design: http://www.akantiek.nl/prent1.htm More info and pictures on the work of Hiroshige's colleagues: http://www.akantiek.nl/prent.htm .
help with characters on hiroshige prints?
okay this may sound odd if you're not doing gcse art right now but does anyone know anywhere where i can find out what the calligraphy on ando hiroshige's prints means please? and where to write my own calligraphy, like a japanese character translation website or something? thankyou!!
I recommend you find a japanese and ask for translation.
http://culturexy.blogspot.com
From Buddha to 'Super Robots', Japan stars in Monaco
NICE: A thousand years of Japanese history, from ancient Buddhism to Noh theatre or manga robots, takes centre stage this summer in Monaco with a giant show devoted to the land of the rising sun. Some 600 artworks -- giant sculptures, cypress wood masks, exquisite silk kimonos or samurai armour -- loaned from around the world, went on display this week for two months until September 12 in the ...
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