Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) | The complete set of Remarkable Views of Bridges in Various Provinces (Shokoku meikyo kiran) | Edo period, 19th century
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June 13, 10:37 AM GMT
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Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849)
The complete set of Remarkable Views of Bridges in Various Provinces (Shokoku meikyo kiran)
Edo period, 19th century
the complete set of eleven woodblock prints, from the series Remarkable Views of Bridges in Various Provinces (Shokoku meikyo kiran), each signed Saki no Hokusai Iitsu hitsu (Brush of Iitsu, the former Hokusai), censor’s seal kiwame (approved), published by Nishimuraya Yohachi (Eijudo), circa 1834; each with collector's seal of Gerhard Pulverer to verso, and comprising:
- The Suspension Bridge on the Border of Hida and Etchu Provinces (Hietsu no sakai tsuribashi), 2nd state
- The Hanging-cloud Bridge at Mount Gyodo near Ashikaga (Ashikaga Gyodozan Kumo no kakehashi), 1st state
- Old View of the Pontoon Bridge at Sano in Kozuke Province (Kozuke Sano funabashi no kozu), 1st state
- The Togetsu Bridge at Arashiyama in Yamashiro Province (Yamashiro Arashiyama no Togetsu-kyo), 1st state
- The Kintai Bridge in Suo Province (Suo no kuni Kintaibashi), 1st state
- Yahagi Bridge at Okazaki on the Tokaido (Tokaido Okazaki Yahagi no hashi), 2nd state
- The Drum Bridge at Kameido Tenjin Shrine (Kameido Tenjin taikobashi), 1st state
- Tenpozan at the Mouth of the Aji River in Settsu Province (Sesshu Ajikawaguchi Tenpozan), 1st state
- The Tenman Bridge in Settsu Province (Sesshu Tenmanbashi), 1st state
- Fukui Bridge in Echizen Province (Echizen Fukui no hashi), 1st state
- Old View of the Eight-part Bridge at Yatsuhashi in Mikawa Province (Mikawa no Yatsuhashi no kozu), 1st state
Each horizontal oban: each approx. 25.5 x 37.5 cm., 10 x 14¾ in.
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Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), Série complète des Remarquables vues de ponts dans diverses provinces, époque Edo, XIXe siècle
Gerhard Pulverer (b. 1930)
Narazaki Muneshige, ed., Hizo ukiyo-e taikan, Puruvera korekushon [Ukiyo-e Masterpieces in Western Collections: The Pulverer Collection] (Tokyo, 1990), monochrome pl., nos. 38-48.
Doitsu Puruvera korekushon ukiyo-e hanga meihinten [Masterpieces of Ukiyo-e from the Pulverer Collection] (Tokyo, 1990), p. 47, nos. 1-65 and 166. ('The Hanging-cloud Bridge at Mount Gyodo near Ashikaga' and 'The Suspension Bridge on the Border of Hida and Etchu Provinces')
Matthi Forrer, Hokusai: Prints and Drawings (London, 1991), no. 37. (The Hanging-cloud Bridge at Mount Gyodo near Ashikaga)
Gian Carlo Calza, Hokusai: Il vecchio pazzo per la pittura (Milan, 1999), p. 338, no. V.47.8a. (The Suspension Bridge on the Border of Hida and Etchu Provinces)
Doitsu Puruvera korekushon ukiyo-e hanga meihinten [Masterpieces of Ukiyo-e from the Pulverer Collection], exhibited at the following venues:
Matsuzakaya Department Store, Osaka, 27th December 1990 - 8th January 1991
Matsuzakaya Department Store, Ginza, 24th - 29th January 1991
('The Hanging-cloud Bridge at Mount Gyodo near Ashikaga' and 'The Suspension Bridge on the Border of Hida and Etchu Provinces')
Royal Academy of Arts, London, Hokusai: Prints and Drawings, 15 November 1991 - 9 February 1992. (The Hanging-cloud Bridge at Mount Gyodo near Ashikaga)
Palazzo Reale, Milan, Hokusai: Il vecchio pazzo per la pittura, 6 October 1999 – 9 January 2000. (The Suspension Bridge on the Border of Hida and Etchu Provinces)
Hokusai returned to the subject of bridges throughout his career. Between 1816-17, he depicted various types of bridges in the fourth volume of Hokusa’s Sketches (Hokusai manga), and also produced a large-format print One Hundred Bridges at a Glance in 1823. He was commissioned to make this series by his publisher Nishimuraya Yohachi in around the spring of 1834, following the success of his Tour of Waterfalls in Various Provinces (Shokoku taki-meguri) published a year earlier. The series comprises a total of eleven prints - a rather unusual number for a print series, suggesting perhaps that a print was either added to an original set of ten; or that twelve were intended and only eleven were produced.1
In each of the designs, the expanse of the bridges provide counterpoint to grand views of nature and a sense of wonder embellishes many of the scenes depicted. Two of the bridges were no longer extant during the time of production; using earlier material from eighteenth century gazetteers, as well as local pictures, Hokusai accentuated key features of the bridges to depict not just actual bridges, but awe-inspiring views. Many of the bridges and locales had strong literary associations, such as the Eight-plank Bridge (Yatsuhashi) of Mikawa, the semi-historical bridge that zigzagged over irises in the Tale of Ise (Ise monogatari); and the Boat Bridge at Sanno, which was made famous in the medieval Noh play of eponymous title Funabashi, or ‘Boat Bridge’.2
1. Timothy Clark, ed., Hokusai: Beyond the Great Wave (London, 2017), pp. 154-161.
2. ibid.
Other impressions from the series are in numerous museum collections, including the Museum of Fine, Arts, Boston; the Metropolitan Museum of Art (The MET); and the British Museum.
