Hiroshige: Artist of the Open Road – a 'rapturous' exhibition

The British Museum showcases enchanting work by the prolific Japanese artist

Autumn Moon - Restaurants at Kanagawa
Hiroshige's Tōkaidō Autumn Moon – Restaurants at Kanagawa, Musashi Province
(Image credit: Alan Medaugh)

This exhibition is something of a landmark, said Alastair Sooke in The Daily Telegraph. It is the first in this country in 25 years "to celebrate so extensively" the prolific Japanese artist Utagawa Hiroshige (1797- 1858), a graphic genius whose work had a huge impact far beyond Japan. Born into "a low-ranking samurai family" in Edo (now Tokyo), Hiroshige became renowned for his "lyrical and atmospheric colour-woodblock prints".

Like other artists of the "floating world" (a pleasure-seeking urban lifestyle), he created pictures of bijin (beautiful women), actors and street scenes, before turning to landscape, a genre he helped invigorate: he made his name with a series depicting the Tokaido, the coastal highway between Edo and Kyoto. His prints were disseminated widely and eventually made their way to Europe. His "bold" artistic vision is "everywhere apparent" in this show, which presents almost 120 prints and paintings, "awash with enchanting images of Japan's awe-inspiring scenery".

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