Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川広重 (JAPAN, 1797-1858) Acts #-2, #3, #4, #5, #6 and #8 A suite of six (6) oban yoko-e woodblock prints From the series of ‘The Storehouse of Loyal Retainers’ (Chûshingura 忠臣蔵) Dimensions (each leaf, average): 34,5 x 22,7 cm Catalogue raisonné: Ukiyo-e shûka 14 (1981), Hiroshige list, p. 245, horizontal ôban #52.02, #52.03, #52.04, #52.05, #52.06 and #52.08 Provenance: A large collection of 100+ Japanese woodblock prints, properties from a French collector. Notes: 1. Utagawa Hiroshige, was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist, considered the last great master of that tradition. He is best known for his horizontal-format landscape series ‘The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō’ and for his vertical-format landscape series ‘One Hundred Famous Views of Edo’. The subjects of his work were atypical of the ukiyo-e genre, whose typical focus was on beautiful women, popular actors, and other scenes of the urban pleasure districts of Japan's Edo period (1603–1868). For scholars and collectors, Hiroshige's death marked the beginning of a rapid decline in the ukiyo-e genre, especially in the face of the westernization that followed the Meiji Restoration of 1868. Hiroshige's work came to have a marked influence on western European painting (see, inter alia, Manet and Monet) towards the close of the 19th century as a part of the trend in Japonism. 2. Compare with two related prints, #4 and #5, preserved in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) of Boston, USA, under accession numbers 06.897 and 21.9390. Click HERE and HERE to see the related prints. NOTE: CONDITION REPORTS AND MEASUREMENTS It is up to the bidder to satisfy themselves prior to buying as to the condition of a lot. In relation to Condition Reports, whilst we make certain observations on the lot, which are intended to be as helpful as possible, references in the condition report to damage or restoration are for guidance. The absence of such a reference does not imply that an item is free from defects or restoration, nor does a reference to particular defects imply the absence of any others. The condition report is an expression of opinion only and must not be treated as a statement of fact. Measurements and weight are approximate and the potential bidder may re-ask it to be checked when asking for a condition report.