previous page

view print

HIROSHIGE, Utagawa (1797 - 1858)		Fifty-three stations of the Tokaido - station no. 46: Kameyama yukihare ('Kameyama in the snow')
		Signed:                     Hiroshige ga Publisher's seal:      Hoeido Censor's seal:          kiwame Published:                1833-34 Size:                          oban yoko-e (c. 25 x 36.5 cms / c. 9 7/8" x 14 3/8") Very good impression, color and condition. ref. no.: # 733230 P.O.R.

Kameyama represents station no. 46 along the Tokaido, and is print no. 47 in the series. - A daimyô's procession is shown toiling up past a castle in the early morning; the village is seen in the valley below. The whole scene is deep in snow, with steep hillsides to the right, snow-laden trees and the procession climbing up to Kameyama castle which had been built in the 16th century and destroyed during the Ansei earthquake of 1854 (the site of the castle is now a public park). Below is the village and a fine rose-colored glow is seen in the far distance. The unusual composition, with the slope of the mountain running diagonally across the design, and the carefully balanced placement of the seals, makes this one of the major designs from the series. Hiroshige visited the castle during the late summer/early autumn, amd his drawings of the site do not of course show the snow found in this design. Here, by changing the season, the artist excludes unnecessary details, and demonstrates the freedom he allowed himself in interpreting the scenes he saw, not only by adding non-existent features but sometimes by changing the season as well.

   previous page                                                                 view print