Ôtsuki Plain in Kai Province (Kai Ôtsukihara)

Utagawa Hiroshige
Japan
1797 – 1858

Ôtsuki Plain in Kai Province (Kai Ôtsukihara)
from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fuji sanjûrokkei)
1852
woodblock print, ink and colour on paper
Place made
Edo (Tokyo)
Medium
woodblock print, ink and colour on paper
Dimensions
17.0 x 23.8 cm (sheet)
15.8 x 22.7 cm (image)
Credit line
Elder Bequest Fund 1971
Accession number
712G5
Signature and date
Signed l.l., pigment "広重" translates to "Hiroshige". Not dated.
Provenance
Created by Utagawa Hiroshige, Edo, 1852; [Grammar Gallery, Adelaide]; purchased by the Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 1971.
Media category
Print
Collection area
Asian art - Japan

  • This striking print depicts a snow-covered Mount Fuji towering over the Ōtsuki plains and the diminutive traveller on the road below. In this series Hiroshge utilised the unique compositional device of a great tree in the foreground to create a sense of dynamism. 

    Twenty-five years after Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849) had made his name with the series Thirty-six views of Mount Fuji (c.1830–32), Utagawa Hiroshige created the first of two series (1852, 1858) celebrating the seasonal views of the iconic landmark. This series reveals a mature artist working at the height of his powers, as he presents the mountain from different vantage points and at different times of day through the use of subtle gradations of colour and striking compositions.  

    Russell Kelty, Curator of Asian Art