Hiroshige: Artist of the Open Road review – ‘I could look forever at these passing moments in cosmic colours’
British Museum, LondonThe Japanese master’s weightless gaze birthed not only French impressionism but also the whole ideal of art as a way of capturing momentary glimpses of everyday joyThe only thing wrong with the British Museum’s rapturous trip through the Technicolor world of Utagawa Hiroshige’s prints is its final section, which explores this early 19th-century Japanese artist’s continuing global influence. A patchy sampling of Hiroshige’s imitators is all a bit rushed. But then, to do justice to his after-echoes would take a blockbuster in itself, not an epilogue.Everywhere I looked up to this point, it was evident how precisely French impressionism followed Hiroshige’s cues. Take rain. It becomes a pleasurable urban event in Renoir’s The Umbrellas, but it was Hiroshige who first saw rain as a lighthearted excuse to put up umbrellas – in works such as his print Tarui, created in the 1830s. The impressionist theme of snow, enjoyed by Monet, is also delightfully anticipated by Hiroshige’s 1832-34 work Snow-viewing Along the Sumida River. Continue reading...
British Museum, London
The Japanese master’s weightless gaze birthed not only French impressionism but also the whole ideal of art as a way of capturing momentary glimpses of everyday joy
The only thing wrong with the British Museum’s rapturous trip through the Technicolor world of Utagawa Hiroshige’s prints is its final section, which explores this early 19th-century Japanese artist’s continuing global influence. A patchy sampling of Hiroshige’s imitators is all a bit rushed. But then, to do justice to his after-echoes would take a blockbuster in itself, not an epilogue.
Everywhere I looked up to this point, it was evident how precisely French impressionism followed Hiroshige’s cues. Take rain. It becomes a pleasurable urban event in Renoir’s The Umbrellas, but it was Hiroshige who first saw rain as a lighthearted excuse to put up umbrellas – in works such as his print Tarui, created in the 1830s. The impressionist theme of snow, enjoyed by Monet, is also delightfully anticipated by Hiroshige’s 1832-34 work Snow-viewing Along the Sumida River. Continue reading...
