The Japanese artist of the first half of the 19th century, Utagawa Hiroshige, had a great influence on European painting. His work was inspired by Claude Monet, Paul Cézanne, Edouard Manet and others. Vincent Van Gogh collected works in the ukiyo-e genre, and he painted several paintings based on the engravings he saw of the Japanese master. In the early period of his work, Hiroshige painted subjects more typical of the ukiyo-e genre: beautiful women and actors from urban areas with entertainment establishments. Then his style changed dramatically and he switched to landscapes.
Hiroshige created entire thematic series. The result of the trip from Edo (Tokyo) to Kyoto was a large series of prints “53 Stations of Tokaido”. He was so impressed by the landscapes passing by that he immediately began to make sketches, and, returning home, printed engravings. The works were very popular, one set came to Van Gogh when he and his brother Theo bought several hundred engravings for work.
In total, Hiroshige drew more than 8 thousand prints, and his high creative activity was largely due to his low income: he had to work hard to sell as many fresh landscapes as possible. Despite the high praise of critics, who noted the well-chosen colors and composition, the artist was not always able to receive a good payment for the next series. In his work, Hiroshige resorted to several techniques: embossing, printing on fabric, adhesive printing (mixing glue and ink), etc.
In Europe, Hiroshige's works at the end of the 19th century were often published in the pages of the magazine Le Japon Artistique, which was entirely dedicated to Japanese art. Western artists valued the graphic artist's works for their compositional freedom and the atmosphere of a captured moment, be it the quickly disappearing glow of sunset or heavy rain.
Sources:
brooklynmuseum.org
