Woodblock Prints by Utagawa Hiroshige

This print is one of Hiroshige’s most famous views of Edo. Pedestrians caught in a late summer downpour cross the Shin-Ōhashi Bridge, one of the many bridges spanning the Sumida River. The power of nature is clearly a central theme, although this image shows people on a man-made structure so it is not a landscape in the traditional sense. By depicting rain in fine black lines cutting downwards through the composition, Hiroshige allows us to almost sense its force as it lashes down on the poor hunched pedestrians below. The bold design and atmospheric intensity have made this print one of Hiroshige’s most celebrated images and inspired Vincent van Gogh to create a copy in oils thirty years later. Sudden Shower Over Shin-Ōhashi Bridge, No.52 In the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo c. 1857

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