Returning Sails at Yabase (Yabase no kihan), from the series "Eight Views of Omi (Omi hakkei no uchi)"
- Series:
- Eight Views of Omi (print 3 of 1)
- Date:
- c. 1834
- Medium:
- Color woodblock print; oban
- Format:
- Oban
- Source:
- Art Institute of Chicago
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
Fishing vessels with their sails full of wind return to the harbor at Yabase on the western shore of Lake Biwa — the "returning sails" (kihan) scene that was one of the eight canonical views of the lake borrowed from the Chinese tradition of the Eight Views of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers. Hiroshige's oban print captures the boats angling home across open water, the sunset light warming the sails as they approach the shore.
More Prints by Utagawa Hiroshige
More Landscapes Prints
Lake Kugushi in Wakasa Province (Wakasa Kugushiko), from the series Souvenirs of Travel I (Tabi miyage dai isshu)"
Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Autumn Maple Leaves at Takao, from the album Eight Views of Kyoto (Kyôto hakkei)
Woodblock print
The Beach at Kaiganji in Sanuki Province (Sanuki Kaiganji no hama), from the series "Collection of Views of Japan II, Kansai Edition (Nihon fukei shu II Kansai hen)"
1934
Color woodblock print; oban
Tea Kettle, section of a sheet from the series "Mirror of Stone Rubbings of Views of the Provinces" (Kohon meihitsu ishizuri kagami)
n.d.
Woodblock print; ishizuri-e, section of harimaze sheet
Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
Returning Sails at Yabase (Yabase no kihan), from the series "Eight Views of Omi (Omi hakkei no uchi)" was created by Utagawa Hiroshige (歌川広重) in c. 1834.
Yes — Returning Sails at Yabase (Yabase no kihan), from the series "Eight Views of Omi (Omi hakkei no uchi)" is part of the Eight Views of Omi series (print 3 of 1) by Utagawa Hiroshige.
Returning Sails at Yabase (Yabase no kihan), from the series "Eight Views of Omi (Omi hakkei no uchi)" depicts landscapes, seascapes, and eight views of ōmi.