1847-1915
Evening View of Hashiba in Tokyo
(Tokyo hashiba watashi tasogare no kei)
the Japanese title centered on the top margin and with English title on the bottom margin, signed in red cartouche at lower left, Hoensha Kobayashi Kiyochika ga, with address, Wakamiya-cho nihyaku jusan banchi, and the publisher's name and address on the left margin, Yoshikawa-cho nibanchi (Wakamiya Town 213, Yoshikawa Town 2), Matsuki Heikichi ban, and dated at upper right, Meiji kyunen hachigatsu sanjuichika (Meiji 9 [1876] August 31st)
oban yoko-e 9 3/4 by 13 7/8 in., 24.7 by 35.3 cm
In August of 1876, Kiyochika and the publisher Matsuki Heikichi IV (1836-1891) embarked on an ambitious project of producing an untitled series of prints that depict views of the rapidly developing capital utilizing Western-style perspective and realism. Over a five-year period, Kiyochika would produce 17 designs with Matsuki, and a further 76 with the publisher Fukuda Kumajiro (act. 1874-98). Four of the first five prints issued featured titles in English, prominently centered in the bottom margin, suggesting that there was an intention to market the prints to the foreigners. Later impressions are missing these incongruous flourishes. Evening View of Hashiba in Tokyo is one of these early examples, identified with the English title, Evening View of Hashi-ba in To-Kei, annotated with an asterisk beside Hashi-ba followed by the puzzling detail erroneously identifying the area of Hashiba as a: *NAME OF STREET.
References:
Tokichi Sakai, Kiyochika, The Japan Association for the Preservation of Ukiyo-e, translation by N.S. Gankow, 1969, no. 3
Hideki Kikkawa, Kobayashi Kiyochika: Studies in Light and Shadow of the Westernization of Japan, Seigensha Art Publishing, 2015, p. 58, nos. 73-75
Kobayashi Kiyochika: A Retrospective, Machida City Museum of Graphic Arts, 2016, p. 30, nos. 26-27
(inv. no. 10-4821)
price: $1,800