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.

Chiyogaike Pond, Meguro - Beautiful landscape view of a waterfall cascading into Chiyo's Pond, located on a bluff above the Meguro River valley. Chiyo's Pond was named after a medieval samurai's wife, who drowned herself there after learning that her husband had been killed in battle. Here, two women and a young girl stroll along the water's edge, the hillside dotted with pines and pink blossoming cherry trees. Most unusually, Hiroshige depicts the reflections of the trees on the pond, demonstrating a Western influence. Hiroshige used this technique in only three other designs in the series. A wonderful spring scene, attractively colored and shaded.

Artist - Hiroshige (1797 - 1858)

Image Size - 13 1/14" x 8 5/8" + margins as shown

Condition - This print with excellent detail as shown. Slight soiling, small ink mark in margin. Please see photos for details. Nice overall.