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.

Kinryuzan Temple, Asakusa, 1856 - Beautiful winter view of Kinryuzan Temple as seen through the entrance gate, which frames the scene along with the large paper lantern hanging overhead, creating a sense of depth. Snow falls over the plaza where visitors make their way toward the buildings, the pine trees at left and in the distance heavily laden with snow. A lovely evocative scene, beautifully colored and shaded. One of Hiroshige's most iconic images from this series and extremely rare to find.

Provenance - This item was purchased by a Los Angeles collector from a dealer in the USA in 1989 for $4,450.00. The original bill of sale will accompany the item for provenance purposes.

Artist - Hiroshige (1797 - 1858)

Image Size - 13 1/4" x 8 3/4" + margins as shown

Condition - This print with excellent detail as shown. Paper remnants on reverse at edges from previous mounting. Slight toning, a few creases, a few light spots. Please see photos for details. Good overall.