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A Picture of Prosperity: America

A Picture of Prosperity: America

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Utagawa Hiroshige II

As demand for information about Japan’s new allies increased, elaborate compositions full of architectural details began to appear on the market. Like many Yokohama-e, factual accuracy was secondary to unusual and novel details. The Illustrated London News was a major source of imported visual material for artists during this period. A picture of Frederiksberg Castle near Copenhagen, Denmark, appeared in this publication and was the basis for this triptych, which demonstrates how creativity and foreignness successfully played on viewers’ imagination and naiveté. Many elements are incongruous to the overall composition or location. Palm trees appear in the distant right, as well as figures dressed in European clothing. The register on the arcade in the background of the center panel includes Hiroshige’s decorative interpretation of Latin script.
Artist
Utagawa Hiroshige II
(Japanese, 1829 - 1869)
Title
A Picture of Prosperity: America
Date
1861
Medium
Color woodcut
Dimensions
14 5/8 x 29 1/2 in. Overall
Credit
John H. Van Vleck Endowment Fund purchase
Accession No.
2002.96a-c
Classification
Prints
Geography
Japan

Related

  • Mueller, Laura. "Competition and Collaboration: Japanese Prints of the Utagawa School." Leiden, The Netherlands: Hotei Publishing, 2007. p. 199, no. 192
  • Stevens, Andrew. "Color Woodcut International: Japan, Britain, and America In the Early Twentieth Century." Madison: Chazen Museum of Art, 2006. p. 55, no. 1
  • Chazen Museum of Art. "Artscene." Vol. 23, No. 2, July- December 2006. p. 2

  • Utagawa: Masters of the Japanese Print, 1770-1900 : Chazen Museum of Art, 3/21/2008–6/15/2008
  • Competition and Collaboration: Japanese Prints of the Utagawa School: Chazen Museum of Art, 11/3/2007–1/6/2008
  • Color Woodcut International: Japan, Britain, and America in the Early 20th Century: Chazen Museum of Art, 12/9/2006–2/25/2007

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