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Evening Snow on the Asuka Mountain (Asukayama no Bosetsu)

Utagawa Hiroshige

Asian Art

On View: Asian Galleries, Arts of Japan, 2nd floor
To create the soft contours of the hillsides in this lovely rendering of the “snow in the evening” subject, Hiroshige’s printer employed a technique called bokashi. Unlike most woodblock printing, in which ink is applied evenly across the block for a consistent plane of color, for this technique the printer uses moisture and smears to create gradual transitions from thick to thin ink, blurring between dark and light tones.
MEDIUM Color woodblock print on paper
  • Place Made: Japan
  • DATES ca. 1838
    PERIOD Edo Period
    DIMENSIONS Sheet: 9 3/16 x 14 1/2 in. (23.4 x 36.8 cm) Image: 8 7/8 x 13 13/16 in. (22.5 x 35.0 cm)  (show scale)
    SIGNATURE Hiroshige, Yegoku
    COLLECTIONS Asian Art
    ACCESSION NUMBER 39.577
    CREDIT LINE Frank L. Babbott Fund
    PROVENANCE Prior to 1939, provenance not yet documented; before 1939, reportedly in the Church Collection; by 1939, acquired by George Tuttle of Brooklyn, NY; 1939, purchased from George Tuttle by the Brooklyn Museum.
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    EXHIBITIONS
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Asian Galleries, Arts of Japan, 2nd floor
    CAPTION Utagawa Hiroshige (Japanese, 1797-1858). Evening Snow on the Asuka Mountain (Asukayama no Bosetsu), ca. 1838. Color woodblock print on paper, Sheet: 9 3/16 x 14 1/2 in. (23.4 x 36.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Frank L. Babbott Fund, 39.577 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 39.577_IMLS_SL2.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, 39.577_IMLS_SL2.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
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