1857
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Dominant colour
Sudden Shower over Shin-Ōhashi Bridge and Atake, from One Hundred Famous Views of Edo is a 1857 by Utagawa Hiroshige, a Impressionism work, depicting Rain, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a long wooden bridge bending over gray water, people hurrying under slanted blue rain, umbrellas tilting every way. This print was made two years after a big earthquake and fire leveled the city. The bridge is brand new, but the rain feels old—like weather never changes, even when everything else does. To see how other artists painted rain in the same time, look up *japan, edo period (1615–1868)*.
Published two years after the great earthquake and fire of 1855, this print design illustrates the newly rebuilt Great Bridge over the Sumida River in Edo (now Tokyo). The design shows Utagawa Hiroshige’s skill in capturing atmospheric conditions. People try to protect themselves from sudden sheets of rain as they cross the bridge in opposite directions. The Atake neighborhood is seen in the distance.
The Ohashi Bridge was one of 300 bridges that crossed the Sumida River.
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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