Page 143 - September 21 2021 Important Japanese Art Christie's NYC

193 UTAGAWA HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)

Ohashi bridge, sudden shower

at Atake

Woodblock print, from the series Meisho Edo
hyakkei (One hundred views of famous places
in Edo), signed Hiroshige ga, published by Uoya
Eikichi, 9th month 1857
Vertical oban: 14¿ x 10 in. (35.9 x 25.4 cm.)

$20,000-30,000

One of Hiroshige's most well-known prints shows pedestrians
crossing the Ohashi Bridge are taken by surprise by a sudden
downpour of rain. On the shoreline to the far left, almost
completely obscured by the rain are the Atake and Honjo
districts, with the roofs of the sheds housing the shogun's boats
just visible. Only thirty years after its publication, an impression
of this print made its way into the collection of Vincent van
Gogh, inspiring him to paint his 1887 oil and canvas version
Bridge in the Rain (after Hiroshige), 1887, which is now in the van
Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, immortalizing the print into the
Western cannon of art forever.
Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890). Bridge in the Rain: After Hiroshige.
France. 1887. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam.