Product Description

An exquisite presentation of unique sketchbooks by the great Japanese master Hiroshige Ando (1797-1858). While Hiroshige's splendid woodblock prints, in particular his Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido Road, are among the most widely reproduced and best-loved prints in Japanese history, his sketches have rarely been circulated or seen. The sketchbooks date from around 1840 and were created as Hiroshige traveled around Japan. They contain subject matter that ranges from serene landscapes and rural scenes to delightful renderings of interiors, historical figures, and animals. The colours are fresh, the renderings fluid, and the use of space astonishing, allowing a sort of fantasy not always possible in the harder lines of woodblock printing. Most importantly, these drawings are of enormous charm to the eye; even those unacquainted with Japanese art will find them an enchanting example of Japanese colour, design and subject matter. This one-volume edition has been printed in Japan to ensure the highest quality in reproducing the nuances of Hiroshige's masterpieces which are reproduced to size and in their original order.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2018062 in Books
• Published on: 2001-10-25
• Released on: 2001-10-25
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 176 pages

The Christian Science Monitor
The touch, sensibility, and imagination of the artist are communicated instantly through the extraordinarily faithful reproductions.

About the Author
Sherman E. Lee, is a leading scholar of Far Eastern Art. Director of the Cleveland Museum of Art for twenty-five years, he is currently a consultant to the Asia Society Galleries. He is the author of Past, Present, East aand West, A History of Far Eastern Art and Japanese Decorative Style.