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Chapter 26 Biography Activity

Contacts between Japan and western nations brought more than an exchange of technology and economic ideas (textbook pages 658–659). It also brought a meeting of two different cultures. Japanese art, particularly woodblock prints by artists such as Hokusai and C Hiroshige, influenced painters in Europe. ◆ As you read, think of how artists portray their native landscapes. Then, on a separate sheet of paper, answer the questions that follow. H A Hiroshige (1797–1858) P T ome of the most familiar images in Japanese art trip along the famous Tokaido highway between Scome from the woodblock prints of the artist Kyoto and Edo in 1832, he brought out a series of E Hiroshige. His outdoor scenes—images of snow, color prints called “Fifty-three Stations of the R fog, dawn, and night—brought a new emphasis on Tokaido.” People were interested both in travel nature to Japanese art. Colored prints of city scenes and in the highway. His drawings showed not only 26 and landscapes were popular in Japan in the 1800s. the scenery but also the inns and the other travel- Block printing produced many copies of an artist’s ers, and so became very popular. Later Hiroshige drawing, so that people could drew several other series show- afford to own them. ing landmarks, lakes, and Hiroshige (a pen name) mountains. belonged to the Ando family. While people admired and His father was the head of the collected the work of print- fire brigade in charge of protect- makers like Hiroshige, such ing Edo Castle (now Tokyo) artists were considered arti- When he was only thirteen, sans. They were not personally Hiroshige inherited the post of famous and did not hold a firewarden. This was a responsi- high place in Japanese society. ble job but neither full time nor Not much else is known about well paid. Because Hiroshige Hiroshige’s personal life except had always enjoyed sketching, that he enjoyed travel and his he went to study with a master home city of Edo. He died dur- of the school known as ukiyo-e ing a cholera epidemic, writing —the “floating world” of every- “Leaving my brush behind in day life. He studied Chinese and Edo I set forth on a new jour- Japanese art and developed his ney: Let me sightsee all the own style. His first published famous views in Paradise.” illustrations were in a book in With the opening of Japan to 1818. the West in the 1850s, At first, Hiroshige drew Sudden shower on Ohashi Bridge Europeans came to know the people—actors, warriors, women. About 1830 he work of printmakers such as Hiroshige and the began to concentrate on landscapes. He also slightly older Hokusai. Hiroshige’s nature work was turned the fire brigade over to his own son and a powerful influence on artists such as Whistler, concentrated on art full time. After a sketching Cezanne, Toulouse-Lautrec, and Van Gogh. ILLUSTRATION/PHOTO CREDIT: ART RESOURCE, NY. Questions to Think About 1. What kinds of subjects did Hiroshige most 3. Making Comparisons What kind of social often show in his prints? position did printmakers hold in Japan? How 2. Why were woodblock prints a popular art does this compare with the way artists are form in Japan? treated in various societies today? © Prentice-Hall, Inc.

88 • Biography Activity Chapter 26