Iwabuchi

Iwabuchi, created in 1916, depicts the area along the Arakawa River in northern Tokyo, where the waterway passes through a scenic stretch bordered by wooded hills. Iwabuchi was known for its natural beauty during the Meiji and Taisho periods, before urbanization transformed much of the surrounding landscape. The location offered views of the river flowing between banks of varying height, with seasonal foliage providing changing color throughout the year.

Bartlett's oban woodblock print records this Japanese landscape with the directness of firsthand observation. Unlike his Indian and Hawaiian subjects, Iwabuchi placed Bartlett within the geographic heartland of the woodblock tradition itself, inviting comparison with the countless Japanese artists who had depicted similar riverside scenes. Bartlett's Western training in plein-air observation and atmospheric perspective gave his version a slightly different quality of light and spatial depth than a purely Japanese-trained artist might have produced.