Hiroshige & Eisen. The Sixty-Nine Stations along the Kisokaido. 45th Ed.

<p>The Kisokaidō route through Japan was ordained in the early 1600s by the country’s then-ruler Tokugawa Ieyasu, who decreed that staging posts be installed along the length of the <strong>arduous passage between Edo (present-day Tokyo) and Kyoto</strong>. Inns, shops, and restaurants were established to provide sustenance and lodging to weary travelers. In 1835, renowned woodblock print artist <strong>Keisai Eisen</strong> was commissioned to create a series of works to chart the Kisokaidō journey. After producing 24 prints, Eisen was replaced by <strong>Utagawa Hiroshige</strong>, who completed the series of 70 prints in 1838.<br /><br />Both <strong>Eisen and Hiroshige were master print practitioners</strong>. In <em>The Sixty-Nine Stations along the Kisokaidō</em>, we find the artists’ distinct styles as much as their shared expertise. From the busy starting post of Nihonbashi to the castle town of Iwamurata, Eisen opts for a more muted palette but excels in figuration, particularly of <strong>glamorous women</strong>, and relishes <strong>snapshots of activity along the route</strong>, from shoeing a horse to winnowing rice. Hiroshige demonstrates his mastery of landscape with <strong>grandiose and evocative scenes</strong>, whether it’s the <strong>peaceful banks of the Ota River, the forbidding Wada Pass</strong>, or a moonlit ascent between Yawata and Mochizuki.<br /><br />Taken as a whole, <em>The Sixty-Nine Stations</em> collection represents not only a masterpiece of woodblock practice, including <strong>bold compositions</strong> and an <strong>experimental use of color</strong>, but also <strong>a</strong> <strong>charming tapestry of 19th-century Japan, long before the specter of industrialization</strong>. This TASCHEN volume is sourced from <strong>one of the finest surviving first editions</strong> and revives the series in our compact anniversary edition.</p>