Ando Utagawa Hiroshige, two woodblock prints 'Cooling off at Ryōgoku Bridge' and 'Fireworks at Ryogoku Bridge'.
"Cooling off at Ryōgoku Bridge" (Ryōgokubashi nōryō) from the series "Famous views of Edo" (Edo meisho). Sheet size 23.7 x 36.8 cm.
“Fireworks at Ryogoku Bridge” from Famous Places in Edo (Edo meisho 江戸名所), sheet size 25 x 37.5 cm.
Creasings.
A Swedish private collection, thence by descent.
Ando Hiroshige is one of the most renowned a Japanese painters born in Edo. He began his artistic career as an apprentice to Utagawa Toyohiro. After completing his training, Hiroshige took his teacher's name and started signing his works Utagawa Hiroshige. Hiroshige painted motifs from everyday life, and it is said that he decided to become an artist after seeing the works of the contemporary artist Hokusai. Hiroshige transformed ordinary landscapes into intimate, lyrical scenes. He is particularly known for his beautiful landscape images in the woodblock printing technique and has painted portraits of young women and actors. His masterpiece is considered to be the work “Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido.”
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