Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858), One Hundred Famous Views of Edo: Fukagawa Susaki and Jumantsubo (Meisho Edo hyakkei: Fukagawa Susaki jumantsubo), printed with mica on the feathers; titled at the upper right, Meisho Edo hyakkei: Fukagawa Susaki jumantsubo, signed Hiroshige ga, with censor’s seals, aratame (examined), and date seal, mi uru go (the year of the snake [1857] intercalary 5th month), followed by the publisher’s seal, Shitaya Shinkuro, Uoei (Sakanaya Eikichi), 1857, oban tate-e 14 by 9 3/4 in., 35.7 by 24.7 cm

Our Gallery Spotlight this week falls upon Scholten Japanese Art, another founding AWNY member who opened their doors in 2000 in New York City. Currently located in the old Meurice Hotel in midtown Manhattan, this venerable gallery specializes in Japanese woodblock prints and paintings. They not only offer traditional ukiyo-e from the 18th to 20th centuries, including shin hanga and sosaku hanga, but also present Japanese-style woodblock prints produced by Western artists to expand and celebrate the visual narrative of Japanese artistic expression.

The gallery’s collection is updated regularly with new and exciting works, including this stunning print from the landscape series, One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, by great ukiyo-e master Utagawa Hiroshige. Depicting scenery from in-and-around Edo, today’s Tokyo, during the mid-19th century, these prints feature Edo-ites going about their lives during a rapidly evolving era in Japan, capturing the beauty and bustle of the city throughout the year. It was groundbreaking in its day, and works from the series are among some of the most iconic in Japanese art.

Fukagawa Susaki and Jumantsubo is one of the most famed prints from Hiroshige’s series and depicts the view from Fukagawa Susaki, the very well known peninsula along Edo Bay with the popular Benten Shrine at the very tip. The land offered excellent shellfish-gathering at low tide in the spring. The view also faces northeast towards Jumantsubo, a tract of land named after its approximate size of one hundred thousand tsubo (about eight acres).

Printed with mica on the eagle’s feathers, this striking work is available to view by appointment, Monday through Friday. Be sure come visit for more of Hiroshige’s prints from this series, along with many other fine Japanese prints and paintings at their gallery.

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