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12.02.04, 10:20
znalazlem ciekawy artykul, na dole wklejam link.
Famed ukiyo-e artist Hiroshige a copycat?
Asahi Shimbun
You probably have seen Utagawa Hiroshige's gorgeous ukiyo-e woodblock prints
depicting stops on his famed journey from Edo to Kyoto on the old Tokaido
road.
It's easy to imagine how the master himself must have admired much of the
same scenery familiar today and sketched away, creating his famous series of
masterpieces from real life.
Not exactly, say experts.
A new book published by Iwanami Shoten on Jan. 23 says Hiroshige (1797-1858)
probably never set eyes on at least 26 of the 53 scenes depicted in ``Tokaido
Gojusantsugi'' (53 stages of the Tokaido).
The actual series runs to 55 woodblock prints, devoted almost entirely to
scenes on the ancient highway from what is now Tokyo to Kyoto, covering about
488 kilometers down the Pacific coast.
Hiroshige, it is commonly believed, traveled the Tokaido to Kyoto in 1832 in
a long annual procession for Tokugawa Ienari to present the 11th shogun's
best horses to Emperor Ninko (1800-1846).
Hiroshige is supposed to have executed the series the following year. While
ukiyo-e traditionally depict scenes of everyday Edo Period life,
entertainment areas and Kabuki, for example, Hiroshige's series concentrated
on landscapes during what must have been an epic journey for those days.
However, three ukiyo-e experts insist the accepted idea that Hiroshige
reached Kyoto is not based on hard facts.
The notion developed from the book ``Hiroshige'' written by Minoru Uchida in
1930.
Juzo Suzuki, 84, an independent ukiyo-e researcher; Junichi Okubo, an
assistant professor at the National Museum of Japanese History; and Yaeko
Kimura, professor at Kinjo Gakuin University, say there is no record to
validate claims made in the book.
Uchida based his theory on a newspaper story that said one of Hiroshige's
disciples in the Meiji Era (1868-1912) had actually heard about the journey
from the master himself.
Still, Suzuki is not convinced. He says no record of the journey appears in
Hiroshige's family history ``Ando Ke Yuishogaki Shitagaki'' from 1866, nor in
the Ukiyo-e Rui Ko database on ukiyo-e artists.
Suzuki first published his doubts about the journey in his book ``Hiroshige''
in 1970. He pointed out that Hiroshige's works bore an uncanny resemblance to
prints in ``Tokaido Meisho Zue'' (beautiful spots in Tokaido) published in
1797. He cited three works in particular- ``Ishibe,'' ``Sakanoshita'' and
``Kanaya.''
After a careful examination of all 55 ukiyo-e woodblock prints, Suzuki
concluded that 19 were based on ``Tokaido Meisho Zue.''
In addition, Suzuki, Okubo and Kimura believe six works were inspired by the
novel ``Zoku-Hizakurige'' written by Jippensha Ikku in 1813. They also said
two prints appeared based on ``Ise Sangu Meisho Zue'' (beautiful spots in Ise
Sangu), published in 1797.
Suzuki noted that the passengers in Hiroshige's ``Kawasaki'' resemble those
in a ferryboat in an illustration in ``Zoku-Hizakurige.''
While the position of the passengers is different, three look very similar,
especially a man smoking a pipe.
In Hiroshige's ``Kuwana,'' the design of the ship and the castle appear to
have been inspired by ``Ise Sangu Meisho Zue.''
``Hiroshige's pictures lack reality once he was west of Suruga (Shizuoka
Prefecture),'' said Okubo. ``His pictures were more genre-style, not like
ukiyo-e at all. It looks like the latter half of Hiroshige's prints were
drawn in haste.''
Okubo said the influence of ``Tokaido Meisho Zue'' became more evident in
those pictures.
``I always thought something was strange with the story that Hiroshige went
to Kyoto passing through all 53 stops,'' said Suzuki. ``I guess Uchida
(author of the 1930 book) must have thought Hiroshige was already a popular
artist when he did these works.''
Hiroshige, in fact, only became popular after he published the Tokaido
Gojusantsugi series.
``At the end of the day, though, it hardly matters whether Hiroshige made the
journey,'' Suzuki said. ``If he did, his artworks attest to his greatness.
And if he didn't, that's even better because they display his genius.
``Hiroshige was no fly-by-night artist. He gained a great reputation because
he was a great artist.
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