Night View of Saruwaka-machi (Saruwaka-machi Yoru no Kei), No. 90 from One Hundred Famous Views of Edo
Brooklyn Museum photograph
Object Label
As the full moon rises high in the autumn sky, its rays bathe Saruwaka-machi, the theater district of Edo, with silver light. The moonlight also displays an array of shadows that seem to have a life apart from the gray and black figures that cast them. These shadows are central to the magical quality of this unusual print. Both for Western viewers accustomed to pictures with shadows and for Edo viewers to whom shadows were a curiosity, these particular forms have the similar effect of conjuring up an otherworldly atmosphere.
Caption
Utagawa Hiroshige (Japanese, 1797–1858). Night View of Saruwaka-machi (Saruwaka-machi Yoru no Kei), No. 90 from One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, 9th month of 1856. Woodblock print, 14 1/4 x 9 1/4in. (36.2 x 23.5cm) Sheet: 14 3/16 x 9 1/4 in. (36.1 x 23.5 cm) Image: 13 3/8 x 8 3/4 in. (34 x 22.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Anna Ferris, 30.1478.90. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Artist
Title
Night View of Saruwaka-machi (Saruwaka-machi Yoru no Kei), No. 90 from One Hundred Famous Views of Edo
Date
9th month of 1856
Period
Edo Period, Ansei Era
Geography
Place made: Japan
Medium
Woodblock print
Classification
Dimensions
14 1/4 x 9 1/4in. (36.2 x 23.5cm) Sheet: 14 3/16 x 9 1/4 in. (36.1 x 23.5 cm) Image: 13 3/8 x 8 3/4 in. (34 x 22.2 cm)
Signatures
Hiroshige-ga
Markings
Title in cartouche upper right. Signature in cartouche, left. Censor seals in upper right border. No publisher's seal visible, probably lost when left margin was trimmed.
Credit Line
Gift of Anna Ferris
Accession Number
30.1478.90
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