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View of Nagoya in Owari Province, from the series One-hundred Views of Famous Places in the Provinces

View of Nagoya in Owari Province, from the series One-hundred Views of Famous Places in the Provinces

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Utagawa Hiroshige II

Tokugawa Ieyasu began building the Nagoya Castle in Owari province in 1610 and completed it in 1612. The castle was erected to solidify the Tokugawa authority in Owari province. Nicknamed “gold mythical dragon-fish castle,” it became known for its two distinctive gold roof decorations that reflected the prosperity of the Edo period and the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate. Hiroshige II placed one of the well-known creatures, with the head of a dragon and the body of a fish, on the rooftop of the Nagoya Castle to identify the location. The truncated placement of the decorative ornament provides a bird’s-eye perspective creating an expansive landscape view with a sense of deep recession.
Artist
Utagawa Hiroshige II
(Japanese, 1829 - 1869)
Title
View of Nagoya in Owari Province, from the series One-hundred Views of Famous Places in the Provinces
Date
12/1859
Medium
Color woodcut
Dimensions
337 x 220 mm Overall
Credit
Bequest of John H. Van Vleck
Accession No.
1980.2244
Classification
Prints
Geography
Japan

Related

By 1925, purchased in Japan by Frank Lloyd Wright; ca. 1926, acquired by The Bank of Wisconsin; 1928, sold to Edward Burr Van Vleck (Madison, WI); 1943, passed through inheritance to Edward’s son, John H. Van Vleck (Madison, WI); 9 January 1980, bequeathed by John H. Van Vleck to the Elvehjem Museum of Art [now called Chazen Museum of Art]

  • Mueller, Laura. "Competition and Collaboration: Japanese Prints of the Utagawa School." Leiden, The Netherlands: Hotei Publishing, 2007. p. 196, no. 189
  • Osumi, Takeshige, ed. "Edward Burr Van Vleck Collection Ukiyo-e Masterpieces Exhibition." Tokyo: Bun You Associates, 1999.

  • 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
  • Edward Burr Van Vleck Collection: Elvehjem Museum of Art, 10/13/1999–6/30/2000

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