It has been our profound wish to
see a website that is dedicated to a broader appreciation of fine arts. A website which we
name "Ajang Seni Artaku" (literally Artaku's Art Forum) will hopefully be the
medium in which various collections of these fine works may be viewed and appreciated by
all of us.
For the forum's premier series, we have selected the works of a
19th century Japanese master of landscape woodblock prints. The artist name is Hiroshige.
During the latter Edo period (1804-1867), Ukiyo-e (literally "floating world
picture") arts as genre culture and art were already very popular. With his talent,
Hiroshige was able to capture this sentiment plus the increasing passion of people for
travellings, and expressed them through his landscape paintings.
Hiroshige was one of the very few Japanese masters whose works had
direct influence on the development of arts in Europe at the time. He was considered as a
true and unique impressionist by European artists such as Claude Monet, Rodin, Camille
Pissarro and Vincent van Gogh. They bought Ukiyo-e prints themselves and the arts became
the source of inspiration and new discovery. There were nearly 300 Ukiyo-e prints kept at
the Monet House in Giverny. The largest number, 43 prints, are by Hiroshige. At one time,
Vincent van Gogh also owned a collection of 430 prints.
Hiroshige was undoubtedly a remarkable artist. His art is a
representation of the Edo people themselves and a pictorial reflection of historical
facts. His art was also the unwitting vanguard of impressionist style which at the time
was marginalized. We hope you will enjoy the presentation.
Prepared by
Misi Studio
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