Untitled Series of Famous Places in Edo

Publisher: Maru-ya Seijirô

1853

This series is not listed in Kuniyoshi by Basil William Robinson (Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1961). Each print in this series is dated the 2^nd month of 1853. The prints are each about 10 by 14 inches (25 by 36 centimeters), a size known as ôban.

Snow at Benten Shrine and Kinryûzan Temple in Asakusa (Asakusa kinryûzan bentenyama setchû no zu, 浅草金龍山辨天山雪中之圖)

A second edition of the above print with a snow pattern on the water in the foreground

A Picture of the Flourishing Theater District (Shibaimachi han’ei no zu, 芝居町繁栄の図)

NOTE: Kuniyoshi’s print of the Theater District resembles this c. 1844 print of the same subject by Hiroshige, with some of the figures appearing to have been copied.

Hiroshige c. 1844	Kuniyoshi 1853

I am grateful to Robert Pryor for the above information and images.

Cherry Blossoms at Tsukiji Temple (築地＊之圖)

NOTE: This and the two previous prints constitute a series of “snow, moon and flowers”

Picture of Meguro Fudo Shrine (目黒不動之圖)

Another state of the above design with a green foreground devoid of shadows

Shiba Atago Mountain (芝愛宕山之圖)

NOTE: This print bears no publisher’s seal, and the corners of the image are not rounded.

Rain at the man-made gorge of the Kanda River at Ochanomizu in Edo

NOTE: This print is not part of the above series and dates from the 1830s. The palate is limited, and the landscape is reduced to a few broad geometric shapes. Other than Kuniyoshi’s signature, the print is devoid of both text and seals.

These two American paintings were made about a century after Kuniyoshi’s print of rain at the gorge of the Kanda River.
	Artist: Milton Avery Title: Bird and Breaking Wave Date: 1944
	Artist: Georgia O’Keefe Title: Lake George Date: 1922

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