Japan: Oshidori ('Mandarin Ducks'), by Utagawa Hiroshige (1735–1814).

'Mandarin Ducks' by Japanese woodblock artist Hiroshige Utagawa, accompanied by a poem which reads:

'Out in a morning wind,
Have seen a pair of mandarin ducks parting.
Even the best loving couple makes a quarrel'.

Hiroshige was a member of the Utagawa school, which was founded by Utagawa Toyoharu, whose primary innovation was his adaptation of linear perspective to Japanese subject matter. His pupil, Toyokuni I, took over after Toyoharu's death and raised the group to become the most famous and powerful woodblock print school for the remainder of the 19th century, so much so that today more than half of all surviving ukiyo-e prints are from it. In addition to Hiroshige, Kunisada, Kuniyoshi and Yoshitoshi were Utagawa students.

Copyright:

Supplier: CPA Media Co. Ltd.

Credit:

Pictures From History

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