100 Views of Edo # 90 by Ando Hiroshige

Artist: Ando Utagawa Hiroshige (1787-1858)

Woodblock Prints Title: Night View of Saruwaka-machi (Saruwaka-machi yoru no kei), from the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei)

1st Publication: September 1856

Size: Vertical ôban; 36.4 x 24.6 cm (14 5/16 x 9 11/16 in.)

Date of this edition: September 1856

Publisher: Uoya Eikichi

Condition: Some foxing, some trimming in the margins, little remnants from prior mounting. Very good colors, excellent impression with strong wood grain, very good overall condition.

Notes: There are two known set of blocks for this print, easy to distinguish from the wood grain in the sky area. This one is similar to the one exposed at the Museum of Fine Art in Boston visible HERE

More about this print: As the full moon rises high in the autumn sky, its rays bathe Saruwaka-machi, the theater district of Edo, with silver light. The moonlight also displays an array of shadows that seem to have a life apart from the gray and black figures that cast them.

These shadows are central to the magical quality of this unusual print. Both for Western viewers accustomed to pictures with shadows and for Edo viewers to whom shadows were a curiosity, these particular forms have the similar effect of conjuring up an otherworldly atmosphere.

Pictures: Pictures are taken outdoor, in the shade, to reflect true colors, without any enhancements of any kind. The last picture is taken indoor, with a light behind the print, to reveal the exact paper grain, holes if any, or other possible flaws.