Hietsu no sakai tsuribashi (Suspension Bridge between Hida and Etchū Provinces), from the series Shokoku meikyō kiran (Remarkable Views of Bridges in Various Provinces)
Katsushika Hokusai, Hietsu no sakai tsuribashi (Suspension Bridge between Hida and Etchū Provinces), from the series Shokoku meikyō kiran (Remarkable Views of Bridges in Various Provinces), ca. 1834, color woodblock print on paper; ōban nishiki-e, The Mary Andrews Ladd Collection, public domain, 32.469
This work is not currently on view.
- Title
Hietsu no sakai tsuribashi (Suspension Bridge between Hida and Etchū Provinces), from the series Shokoku meikyō kiran (Remarkable Views of Bridges in Various Provinces)
- Related Titles
original language: 飛越の堺つりはし
series (original language): 諸国名橋奇覧
series (translated): Remarkable Views of Bridges in Various Provinces
series (transliterated): Shokoku meikyō kiran
translated: Suspension Bridge between Hida and Etchū Provinces
transliterated: Hietsu no sakai tsuribashi
- Artist
- Related People
publisher: Nishimura Yohachi (Japanese, active mid-19th century)
- Date
ca. 1834
- Period
Japan: Edo period (1615-1868)
- Medium
color woodblock print on paper; ōban nishiki-e
- Dimensions (H x W x D)
image/sheet: 9 7/8 in x 14 13/16 in
- Inscriptions & Markings
publisher's mark: 永壽堂, printed in red relief within square cartouche, lower right Transliteration (Translation): Eijudō ([seal of the publisher Nishimuraya Yohachi 西村屋与八]) Language: Japanese Description: Edo publisher, firm Eijudō 永寿堂 active c.1751-1860.
signature: 前北斎為一筆, printed in black ink, upper right Transliteration (Translation): zen Hokusai Iitsu hitsu (brushed [by] Iitsu, formerly Hokusai) Language: Japanese
censor's mark: 極, printed in red relief within circular cartouche, lower right Transliteration (Translation): kiwame (approval) Language: Japanese
series title; title: 諸国 / 名橋奇覧 / 飛越の堺つりはし, printed in black ink within double rectangular cartouche on yellow ground, upper right Transliteration (Translation): shokoku / meikyō kiran / Hietsu no sakai tsuribashi (remarkable views of bridges in various provinces / suspension bridge between Hida and Etchū provinces) Language: Japanese
- Collection Area
Asian Art; Graphic Arts
- Category
Prints
Japanese Traditional Prints
- Object Type
relief print
- Culture
Japanese
- Credit Line
The Mary Andrews Ladd Collection
- Accession Number
32.469
- Copyright
public domain
- Terms
Hokusai’s Remarkable Views of Bridges series includes structures real and imagined. Here, we see a dramatic visualization of the kind of rustic suspension bridge that existed throughout premodern Japan. Peasants carrying heavy loads of brushwood cross the bridge precariously strung between tall spires of rock. Banks of clouds and distant flocks of birds emphasize the dizzying height of the bridge, which sags dangerously beneath the two figures. The couple seem unaware of their perilous situation as they slowly pass through the landscape, at peace with the rocks, trees, and beasts around them.
- Exhibitions
2011 The Artist's Touch, The Craftsman's Hand: Three Centuries of Japanese Prints from the Portland Art Museum Portland Art Museum
2022; 2023 Human Nature: 150 Years of Japanese Landscape Prints Portland Art Museum
