Kawachi Province: Mount Otoko in Hirakata

Printerprinted by Utagawa Hiroshige I 歌川広重 (Japanese, 1797–1858)

Date1853

Mediumink and color on paper

Dimensions34.3 x 22.9 cm (13 1/2 x 9 in.)

ClassificationsPrints

Credit LineJohn Chandler Bancroft Collection

Terms

Object number1901.59.1395

DescriptionPrint no. 3 of the series: "Famous Views of the Sixty-odd Provinces"
Label TextThis print exhibits masterfully colorful gradations ('bokashi'), an advanced print technique widely employed in the landscape prints of Hiroshige and those of his older rival, Hokusai. Here, 'bokashi' lends surface variety and depth to the sky and mist, the mountains and hills, and the water along the riverbank. These areas of gradation were achieved through a painstaking process. Colors were printed one at a time, so the block was re-inked between different impressions. At the end, after all the background colors are printed, the printer added a gradation of ink to the woodblock in the necessary areas. Since the gradation was hand-applied and then printed, the resulting effect could vary from one print to the next.

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