Hanga
(江戸橋夕暮富士) by Kobayashi Kiyochika — Japanese Woodblock print

(江戸橋夕暮富士)

by Kobayashi Kiyochika

Medium:
Woodblock print
Image courtesy of
Ritsumeikan University

Description

Fuji at Dusk from Edo Bridge (江戸橋夕暮富士) combines the two dominant motifs of Meiji Tokyo prints: Mount Fuji as permanent backdrop and the Nihonbashi commercial district as emblem of urban modernity. Edo Bridge stood near the Nihonbashi fish market, and a view westward along the Nihonbashi River would frame Fuji on the horizon at sunset. Kiyochika renders dusk through warm ochre and purple gradations in the sky, a treatment of twilight that reflects his study of Western atmospheric painting. Warehouses, boats, and the iron or wooden bridge structure occupy the foreground, while Fuji—reduced to a pale silhouette—anchors the far distance. The composition bridges the meisho-e tradition with a new, optically grounded rendering of natural light.

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Frequently Asked Questions

(江戸橋夕暮富士) was created by Kobayashi Kiyochika (小林清親).