UTAGAWA HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)

Hiroshige demonstrated numerous beautiful and distinctive bridges throughout his career, such as the stone Taiko (Drum) Bridge in Meguro (The Metropolitan Museum of Art: JP2516; shorted as MET below) and the long bridge in Seita (MET: JP49). Here in this painting, Hiroshige presented the Ochanomizu Bridge, which was characterized as short, straight with multiple supports. Hiroshige featured this bridge in prints several times from various angles. He designed one print from the front center view, as in the series Famous Places in the Eastern Capital (Toto meisho, The Museum of Fine Art, Boston: 06.1509, short as MFA below). The perspective Hiroshige employed in Ochanomizu from the series Views of Famous Places in Edo (Edo meisho zue, MFA: 21.10163) was almost identical as the one of this painting, excepting the painting illustrated a broader view. An interesting detail about this painting was that the way Hiroshige painted the trees with double lines to create volume and shadow, almost like the special technique in Chinese painting and calligraphy called Shuanggou (strokes in double outlines). This technique could also be found in other Hiroshige paintings, for example his Picture of Procession (Gyoretsuzu, Tokyo National Museum: A-493).