Artwork

六十余州名所図会武蔵隅田川雪の朝|Morning after a Snowfall, the Sumida River, Musashi Province, from the series Views of Famous Places in the Sixty-Odd Provinces

六十余州名所図会武蔵隅田川雪の朝|Morning after a Snowfall, the Sumida River, Musashi Province, from the series Views of Famous Places in the Sixty-Odd Provinces is an ink print by the Romanticist artist Utagawa Hiroshige. It dates from 1853 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

About this work

Overview

Utagawa Hiroshige’s woodblock print, created circa 1853, depicts a winter morning along the Sumida River in Musashi Province. Part of his extensive series that surveys notable locations across more than sixty provinces, the image captures a quiet riverside scene shortly after snowfall, with muted tones and a faint pink horizon hinting at sunrise.

Subject & Meaning

The composition presents a riverbank lined with snow‑laden trees and low‑rise buildings, while a few small boats drift on the icy water. Sparse birds glide overhead, reinforcing the stillness of the early‑day atmosphere. Hiroshige’s focus on a modest, everyday landscape expands the traditional ukiyo‑e interest beyond urban pleasure districts.

Technique & Style

Executed as a multicolored woodblock print, the work combines black ink outlines with subtle washes of color applied to paper. Hiroshige employs delicate gradations to suggest the soft light of dawn, and the arrangement of forms creates depth through overlapping silhouettes of trees, structures, and vessels.

History & Provenance

Issued as one of the prints in the "Views of Famous Places in the Sixty‑Odd Provinces" series, the image reflects Hiroshige’s late‑Edo period output. The series was widely circulated among collectors of the time, and individual impressions have since entered museum collections and private holdings, preserving the artist’s vision of seasonal Japanese scenery.

Artist & collection

Artist

Utagawa Hiroshige

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.