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.

The City of Flourishing, Tanabata Festival - Vibrant and beautiful view of Edo during the Tanabata Festival. Decorated bamboo branches are lashed to rooftops and decorated with slips of paper with poems on them. In the center of the print, beyond the decorated rooftops of Edo, Fuji rises gray and impassive in sharp contrast to the bright, lively colors in this print.

Artist - Hiroshige (1797 - 1858)

Image Size - 13 1/4" x 8 5/8" + margins as shown

Condition - With excellent color and detail as shown. Slight paper remnants or thinning on reverse at two points along left edge from previous folio mounting. A few faint spots. Please see photos for details. Good overall.