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.
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.
