1858
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Fireworks at Ryōgoku, from the series One Hundred Views of Famous Places in Edo is a 1858 by Utagawa Hiroshige, a Impressionism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
Bright bursts of red and gold fireworks light up a dark sky over a river. Below, tiny figures crowd a bridge, boats, and riverbanks, watching the show. Hiroshige gave almost half the picture to the night sky—unusual for prints at the time. These fireworks were real events, paid for by riverside restaurants to draw crowds. The bridge in the scene still stands in Tokyo today. To see more prints of daily life in old Japan, look up *japan, edo period (1615–1868)*.
The Ryōgoku Bridge, a repeated subject of Hiroshige’s prints, spanned the Sumida River connecting bustling Edo (present-day Tokyo) neighborhoods. Here, Hiroshige devoted nearly half the composition to the night sky glittering with fireworks. Restaurants and other businesses along the riverbank frequently sponsored these dazzling displays during the 1850s. The pyrotechnics drew large crowds, who gathered atop the bridge, along the shore, in teashops, and on rented pleasure boats to enjoy the show.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Utagawa Hiroshige (歌川 広重) or Andō Hiroshige (安藤 広重), born Andō Tokutarō (安藤 徳太郎; 1797 – 12 October 1858), was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist, considered the last great master of that tradition.
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