Utagawa Hiroshige (Ando Hiroshige) Nude Prints
Born in Edo as Tokutaro Ando, Utagawa Hiroshige (also known as Andō Hiroshige) grew up in a minor samurai family. His father belonged to the firefighting force assigned to Edo Castle. It is here that Hiroshige was given his first exposure to art: legend has it that a fellow fireman tutored him in the Kano school of painting, though Hiroshige’s first official teacher was Rinsai.
Though Hiroshige tried to join Utagawa Toyokuni's studio, he was turned away. In 1811, young Hiroshige entered an apprenticeship with the celebrated Utagawa Toyohiro. After only a year, he was bestowed with the artist name Hiroshige. He soon gave up his role in the fire department to focus entirely on painting and print design. During this time he studied painting, intrigued by the Shijo school. Hiroshige’s artistic genius went largely unnoticed until 1832.
In Hiroshige's groundbreaking series of Japanese woodblock prints, The “53 Stations of the Tokaido” (1832–33), he captured the journey along the Tokaido road, the highway connecting Edo to Kyoto, the imperial capital. With the Tokugawa Shogunate relaxing centuries of age-old restrictions on travel, urban populations embraced travel art and Hiroshige became one of the most prominent and successful ukiyo-e artists. He also produced kacho-e (bird-and-flower pictures) to enormous success. In 1858, at the age of 61, he passed away as a result of the Edo cholera epidemic.
Original Hiroshige woodblock prints continue to convey the beauty of Japan and provide insight into the everyday life of its citizens during the Edo period. The appeal of his tender, lyrical landscapes was not restricted to the Japanese audience. Hiroshige’s work had a profound influence on the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists of Europe: Toulouse-Lautrec was fascinated with Hiroshige’s daring diagonal compositions and inventive use of perspective, while Van Gogh literally copied two of Hiroshige's prints from the famous series, “100 Famous Views of Edo” in oil paint.
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(Biography provided by Robert Azensky Fine Art)
Mid-19th Century Edo Utagawa Hiroshige (Ando Hiroshige) Nude Prints
Woodcut
Mid-19th Century Edo Utagawa Hiroshige (Ando Hiroshige) Nude Prints
Woodcut
1930s Modern Utagawa Hiroshige (Ando Hiroshige) Nude Prints
Woodcut
1940s Utagawa Hiroshige (Ando Hiroshige) Nude Prints
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1930s American Modern Utagawa Hiroshige (Ando Hiroshige) Nude Prints
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Mid-19th Century Modern Utagawa Hiroshige (Ando Hiroshige) Nude Prints
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1750s Modern Utagawa Hiroshige (Ando Hiroshige) Nude Prints
Paper, Woodcut
Mid-19th Century Edo Utagawa Hiroshige (Ando Hiroshige) Nude Prints
Handmade Paper, Ink, Woodcut
Mid-19th Century Modern Utagawa Hiroshige (Ando Hiroshige) Nude Prints
Woodcut
Mid-19th Century Modern Utagawa Hiroshige (Ando Hiroshige) Nude Prints
Woodcut
1970s Modern Utagawa Hiroshige (Ando Hiroshige) Nude Prints
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1940s Art Deco Utagawa Hiroshige (Ando Hiroshige) Nude Prints
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Early 2000s Contemporary Utagawa Hiroshige (Ando Hiroshige) Nude Prints
Engraving, Woodcut, Ink, Linocut
1940s Art Deco Utagawa Hiroshige (Ando Hiroshige) Nude Prints
Woodcut