Artwork Page for Night Rain at the Azuma Shrine (from the series Eight Views of the Environs of Edo)

Details / Information for Night Rain at the Azuma Shrine (from the series Eight Views of the Environs of Edo)

Night Rain at the Azuma Shrine (from the series Eight Views of the Environs of Edo)

mid-1830s

Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川 広重

(Japanese, 1797–1858)
Culture
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
Medium
color woodblock print
Measurements
Sheet: 21.6 x 34.4 cm (8 1/2 x 13 9/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Henry S. Upson 1942.145
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print

Description

Here Hiroshige reinterprets the traditional Chinese poetic and artistic theme of Eight Views of Xiaoxiang, a scenic region in southeast China. Inspired by “rain at night on the Xiaoxiang,” Hiroshige instead places travelers near Azuma Jinja Shrine in an Edo (present-day Tokyo) suburb.

Synthetic blue pigment, imported from the West and wildly popular in the early 1800s, adds vibrancy to the muted landscape. Thin, ruler-straight diagonal lines of white ink evoke the driving rain.
A horizontally oriented print depicts a landscape shrouded in heavy, slanting rain indicated by dense lines. In the foreground, two figures with light skin tones walk along a path; one carries an umbrella, while the other wears a straw cape and hat. The road leads toward a torii gate and white banners beside a blue body of water. Dark, silhouetted trees frame the scene, and Japanese calligraphy appears in the upper right.

Night Rain at the Azuma Shrine (from the series Eight Views of the Environs of Edo)

mid-1830s

Utagawa Hiroshige

(Japanese, 1797–1858)
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)

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