↗Japan, Edo period (1615–1868) · early 1830s
South Wind, Clear Sky, from Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji
Katsushika Hokusai
Bequest of James Parmelee · The Cleveland Museum of Art
Image licence: CC0 · Museum record & image source ↗
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868) · late 1830s or early 1840s
Picture of Light Rain on the Embankment of the Sumida River, from the series A New Selection of Famous Places in Edo
- Date
- late 1830s or early 1840s
- Medium
- color woodblock print
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 20.7 x 34.4 cm (8 1/8 x 13 9/16 in.)
- Country / context
- Japan
- Movement / tradition
- Japanese art and printmaking
- Collection
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Attribution / role
- Museum attribution
- Pathway
- Japanese art and printmaking ↗
ABOUT THIS WORK
Picture of Light Rain on the Embankment of the Sumida River, from the series A New Selection of Famous Places in Edo is a representative work in our Utagawa Hiroshige guide. The catalogue records color woodblock print. Museum attribution. The linked artist guide places it alongside other works from the artist’s career.
Original educational overview · based on the linked museum recordPlace in the artist’s career
The moonlit view, rainy embankment and late Fuji scene use the same printing family but organise atmosphere differently. Compare dark silhouettes, thin rain lines and the spacing of distant forms. Colour belongs to a particular impression: fading and printing variations can alter the palette you see today.
The artist’s practice
Artist-wide context; individual works may differ.
Media and surface
Woodblock printing combines carved outlines with printed colour and graded passages.
Marks and structure
Cropped foregrounds, diagonals and distant landmarks guide movement through the scene.
Palette and light
Rain, snow and twilight emerge through tonal gradation and contrasts between silhouettes and open sky.
A MOMENT TO LOOK
Start with what you can see: shapes, surface, colour and scale. How might the listed materials affect the way this object was made and experienced?
Looking prompt · an invitation to observe, not a historical interpretation.Follow a connection.
Explore the tradition ↗↗
↗Japan, Edo period (1615–1868) · 1833
Driving Rain at Shōno, from Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaidō
Utagawa Hiroshige
↗Japan, Edo period (1615–1868) · c. 1793
The Flirtatious Type, from Ten Types in the Physiognomy of Women
Kitagawa Utamaro
↗Japan, Edo period (1615–1868) · c. 1830
A Low Tide Pentaptych
Utagawa Kuniyoshi