Title : The Plum Blossom Garden at Kameido

Artist : Utagawa Hiroshige

Date : Not set

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Source : Japanese Art Open Database
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Description : The Plum Blossom Garden at Kameido, from the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo by Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) Plum blossoms, the harbinger of spring, are so famous in Japan that they figure in the poems of Japan's greatest poets. This print shows the plum blossom gardens of the Kameido Tenjin Shrine in Edo. Contrasting with the large branches and blossoms of the plum tree in the foreground, the strolling figures in the background are seen as mere distant specks. This is a late work by the artist Hiroshige, famous for his series of the Fifty Three Stations of the Tokaido. The later works of Hiroshige, like this one, often contrast a distant scene with a close-up element that is depicted larger than life and somehow cropped. This compositional form strongly influenced such Impressionist artists as Degas and Manet. The Dutch painter, Vincent van Gogh, made an oil painting copy of this print. The red of the sky and the contrasting green of the ground are also fascinating.

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