color woodblock print, paper, 27x41 cm, signed by the artist; in the margin, the publisher’s seal and the craftsmen’s marks: carved by Endo, printed by Hosoi
The woodcut depicts five river trout (ayu) swimming dynamically upstream in clear, turbulent water. Hiroshige chose not to depict the waves literally. Instead, the swift current of the river is indicated by two bands of deep blue applied using the bokashi technique . Delicate, lighter lines mimic the eddies and foam on the water’s surface.
Around 1832–1833, Hiroshige designed a series of ten woodblock prints depicting fish, intended for a privately published poetry album. According to the Museum in Boston, these blocks were soon afterward used for a commercial edition, to which one new motif and the seals of the publisher and censor were added. Between about 1840 and 1842, another publisher added nine more designs, bringing the total number of woodblock prints to twenty. Prints from this series are rarely found in reprints, though they offer a splendid example of Hiroshige’s interest in nature.
A loose translation of the poem visible on the woodblock print reads:
Even when the autumn rains fall and the water grows dark,
they swim in its depths, and their bodies do not rust—
the trout of the Crystal River.
This classic design was reproduced by the renowned Tokyo publisher Oedo Mokuhansha during a period of renewed interest in ukiyo-e (the second half of the 20th century). Like many other traditional businesses, the craft of woodblock printing was passed down from generation to generation, and Oedo Mokuhansha was founded by the descendants of an Edo-period publisher. These are beautiful prints of the highest quality and an excellent choice for those seeking high-quality reprints of old woodblock prints.
Hiroshige Andō, also known as Hiroshige Utagawa, is one of Japan’s most famous painters and printmakers. His father, Andō Genuemon, was a low-ranking samurai and an officer in the fire brigade. From the age of sixteen, Hiroshige trained in the studio of Utagawa Toyohira, under whose guidance he developed his skills and talent. The young Hiroshige soaked up the artistic atmosphere while also helping out with his father’s fire brigade in daily life. It wasn’t until he was 27 that he decided to fully pursue a career in the arts. After his teacher’s death in 1822, he was offered the chance to take over his master’s studio, but Hiroshige declined the offer and chose to work independently. Hiroshige’s artistic output has not yet been fully cataloged, but it is estimated that he produced approximately 5,000 works, primarily in the technique of color woodblock printing. He began his career with portraits of beautiful women (bijin-ga) and depictions of kabuki actors (yakusha-e), but after his teacher’s death, he focused primarily on native landscapes. Hiroshige came from a samurai family, yet he identified with Edo’s bourgeois culture. He became famous primarily as the creator of landscape series such as: *Fifty-Three Stations on the Tōkaidō* (Tōkaidō gojūsan tsugi no uchi), One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei), and Sixty-Nine Stations on the Kisokaidō (Kisokaidō rokujūkyū tsugi no uchi). He masterfully depicted landscapes at various times of the year and day, and was fascinated by weather phenomena. He experimented with effects and composition, employing unconventional foreshortening. A distinctive feature of his work is his depiction of atmospheric phenomena such as snowfall, rainfall, gales, and storms. He was also fascinated by the phenomenon of shadow and its effects in both landscapes and domestic interiors.
