Artist: Ando Hiroshige
Medium: Original Japanese Woodblock Print - Triptych
Series Title: Triptychs
Edition: Original
Date: 1857
Publisher: Okazawaya Taheiji
Reference No.: Royal Academy of Arts, London
Size: Vertical oban triptych: 14 -3/4 x 10 -1/4 " (per sheet)
Condition: Very fine
Notes:
A sweeping panoramic view of the Kiso River blanketed in thick winter snow. The sparse palette of paper white, deep blue, and a soft ink tone, serve to accentuate the immensity of the snowfall in this dramatic landscape. The narrow gorge by the Kiso River is one of the most strenuous stretches of the Kisokaido Road. Hiroshige conveys the sheer scale of the rough vertiginous path through the clusters of towering mountains, with the most central peak extending beyond the frame of the composition. This print is generally believed to represent the ‘snow’ installment of the artist’s last series concerning snow, moon and flowers (setsugekka), three acknowledged forms of natural beauty. The other two in the series are Moon at Kanazawa, and Whirlpools at Awa.
This image depicts one of the most rugged parts of the Kisokaido Road, formerly known as Tosando. However, it became less important after the construction of the Tokaido Road at the beginning of the seventeenth century, which was both an easier and a faster route. For centuries the attractive landscape had been praised in poems and recorded in paintings.