By Daniel Fulco, Ph.D., Agnita M. Stine Schreiber Curator

To mark the new special exhibition Floating Beauty: Women in the Art of Ukiyo-e (on view through January 12, 2025),we hope that you enjoy this print in our collection. If you visit the museum, this work is on view in the exhibition.

Utagawa (Ando) Hiroshige (Japanese, 1797–1858)
View of Maruyama in Nagasaki (Nagasaki Maruyama no kei), 1859
from the series One Hundred Famous Views in the Various Provinces
(Shokoku meisho hyakkei)
Color woodblock print; ink on paper
13 1/8 x 8 ¾ in.    
Collection of Washington County Museum of Fine Arts
Gift of Glenn Heimer, A2479,86.0300  
 
Like his elder contemporary and colleague, Utagawa Kunisada, Ando Hiroshige was one of the most famous and prolific ukiyo-e artists. He is most renowned for his popular travel print series that depict different places in Edo-era Japan, including One Hundred Famous Views in the Various Provinces and The Fifty-Three Stations along the Tokkaido (1833–34). In this print, Hiroshige represented a magnificent view of the area around Mt. Maruyama, near Nagasaki, a major port and center of trade.
 
Hiroshige deftly combined his depiction of the landscape with a scene of everyday life. On the balcony of a house, a woman holding a spyglass (likely a courtesan) kneels, pausing to turn to her companion who watches her from inside. Note that Hiroshige and his printers have employed a technique known as bokashi or the use of color gradations of ink (ranging from light to dark and pale to deep). Here, they applied varied shades of imported Prussian blue, green, and red to capture the effects of dim sunlight and establish spatial depth and atmospheric perspective on the horizon. In addition, Hiroshige focused on depicting decorative and architectural details, most notably the intricate patterns on the women’s kimonos, the chandelier, vase, railings, and exterior moldings. Ever the keen observer of nature, he also anchored the composition with a tree on the lower left, the leaves of which contrast with the roof and forest below, as well as the water in the distance.
 
Following Roju (Chief Senior Councilor) Mizuno Tadakuni’s (1794–1851) implementation of the Tenpo Reforms (1841–43), which sought to suppress overt displays of luxury (including the depiction of courtesans and actors), artists like Hiroshige responded by producing numerous landscape views, a genre that became extremely popular both during and after his lifetime.