Vintage Utagawa Hiroshige woodblock print, 53 stations of the Tokaido road,

...Shimada (station no. 23) (1934-1961) An old Japanese woodblock print by Utagawa Hiroshige (1797 - 1858), one of the 53 stations of the Tokaido road (23rd station : Shimada). The original artwork was made in 1833-1834 but this is a vintage re-carved reproduction dating between 1934 and 1961. (one of the people involved in this re-carving is Maeda Kentaro, who was active from 1934-1961). In good condition with strong colours and crisply printed, some discoloration around the edges where if had been framed, and a small crease on the bottom edge. Size of the paper: 15-3/4 x 10-5/8 inches Size of the print: 14 x 8-5/8 inches ¨Hiroshige is best known for his horizontal-format landscape series The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō and for his vertical-format landscape series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo. The subjects of his work were atypical of the ukiyo-e genre, whose typical focus was on beautiful women, popular actors, and other scenes of the urban pleasure districts of Japan's Edo period (1603–1868). The popular series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji by Hokusai was a strong influence on Hiroshige's choice of subject, though Hiroshige's approach was more poetic and ambient than Hokusai's bolder, more formal prints. Subtle use of color was essential in Hiroshige's prints, often printed with multiple impressions in the same area and with extensive use of bokashi (color gradation), both of which were rather labor-intensive techniques.