One Hundred Famous Views of Edo - In 1856, Hiroshige began designing what was to be his last great series and a masterpiece, "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo." The series contains 118 vertical format woodblocks of classic Hiroshige landscapes. From spring cherry blossoms to summer fireworks, from quiet scenes along the river to lively festival celebrations, Hiroshige captures life in old Edo in dramatic and interesting ways. Hiroshige employed an inventive compositional technique in many of the prints, using large foreground elements to frame a distant view in the background, such as the image of Kinryuzan Temple seen through the doorway of the famous Thunder Gate. Beautifully printed with fine bokashi shading, "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo" retains its popularity today as one of Hiroshige's great masterworks, and includes some of his most memorable images.

Hatsune Riding Grounds, Bakuro-cho - Spring view of an open square in downtown Edo that was originally a training ground where the shogun's men would practice horse riding. Having outlived this purpose, dyers used the space between the willow trees to hang bolts of cloth, the trees gracefully hanging overhead. A beautiful print with a pleasing curvilinear composition.

Artist - Hiroshige (1797 - 1858)

Image Size - 13 1/4" x 8 1/2" + margins as shown

Condition - With excellent color and detail as shown. Slight paper remnants on reverse at two point along left side from previous folio mounting. Paper rippled. Please see photos for details. Good overall.