Landscape at Shimoyo in Hoki Province

Medium:: Woodblock print
Format:: Oban
Source:: Art Gallery of Greater Victoria

Typical Price

Later reprint (Meiji–Taisho era publishers): $50–$400
Good later impression (Edo-period, worn blocks): $1,500–$8,000
Good early impression (fine bokashi, vivid color): $8,000–$30,000
Fine early impression (exceptional atmospheric quality): $30,000–$80,000

Hiroshige transformed Japanese landscape printing through his mastery of bokashi (gradated wash) technique and sensitivity to weather, season, and light. His atmospheric landscapes directly influenced Impressionist painters in Europe after Japanese prints reached the West in the 1860s.

Description

Hoki Province's Shimoyo valley, in the rugged interior of what is now Tottori Prefecture, is rendered in this print as a series of layered mountain ridges receding into mist. The San-in region's distinctive landscape of steep, forested mountains and isolated valleys differs sharply from the coastal or lowland scenery of Hiroshige's more famous series. This Hoki view captures the interiority and remoteness of the western mountain provinces.