The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 25, 2024

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
(Japanese, 1797–1858)
Sheet: 21.6 x 34.4 cm (8 1/2 x 13 9/16 in.)
Location: not on view

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.
  • Japanese Gallery 235 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (October 30, 2018-January 6, 2019).
  • {{cite web|title=Night Rain at the Azuma Shrine (from the series Eight Views of the Environs of Edo)|url=false|author=Utagawa Hiroshige|year=mid-1830s|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1942.145