Page 190 - Christies Japanese and Korean Art Sept 22 2020 NYC

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UTAGAWA HIROSHIGE (1797-1858)
Ochanomizu in Snow
Signed Ryusai hitsu, sealed Hiroshige and two seals, titled Honjo
Ochanomizu
Hanging scroll; ink and light color on silk
43Ω x 15æ in. (109.5 x 40 cm.)
$20,000-30,000

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).