A Fascination with Hiroshige's Prints

Recently "Chronicle" featured a NH artist who created a series of woodblock prints inspired by the style of the well-known Japanese printer, Hiroshige (1797-1858), probably best known for his series of prints based upon different views of Mt. Fuji. His representations of waves and water are also quite familiar.

I have always been drawn to Hiroshige's prints. There's something about the layering of woodblock prints that fascinates me. I admire the ability to see a finished work broken down into its layered components. I don't have a brain capable of that type of thinking, but admire those who do. His use of color also draws my interest. The range of blues can keep me looking at a print for ages. I also like his contrast of blues with browns. I remember as a child I would wear those two colors together and be teased for it. But I always liked them together.

A third fascination in his work is the opportunity to look into a world far different from my own... not only in time, but in culture (East vs West). His prints, therefore, hold my interest on several levels. I've posted a few for you to enjoy and recommend borrowing a book of his work the next time you go to the Library. Perhaps you'll find the prints as mesmerizing as I do.  Here is a reasonably priced volume of his famous work, ""100 Views of Edo".