Artwork
東海道五十三次 戸塚|Totsuka
東海道五十三次 戸塚|Totsuka is an ink print by the Romanticist artist Utagawa Hiroshige. It dates from 1840 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- Accession no.
- JP756
About this work
Overview
Totsuka is a woodblock print created by Utagawa Hiroshige around 1840 as part of his series The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō.
Subject & Meaning
The print depicts a serene scene at Totsuka, a station along the Tōkaidō road, a historic route connecting Edo to Kyoto. Travelers are shown walking or riding a donkey along a coastal path lined with pine trees, with a distant mountain rising behind a calm bay.
Technique & Style
Hiroshige employed flat colors and subtle linework, including cross-hatching to create shading, to convey a sense of depth and life in the scene. The contrast between the small figures of travelers and the expansive landscape emphasizes the vastness of the natural environment.
Artist & collection
Artist
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.
