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Kinryuzan Temple, Asakusa (Asakusa, Kinryuzan), from the series One Hundred Views of Famous Places in Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei)

Photo: Susan Cole

Kinryuzan Temple, Asakusa (Asakusa, Kinryuzan), from the series One Hundred Views of Famous Places in Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei)

1856

Utagawa Hiroshige

Japanese, 1797-1858

In Hiroshige's time, Asakusa Temple was not only a famous religious site but also one of Edo's foremost entertainment districts. Its giant red lantern at the Kaminarimon gate has long welcomed rowdy crowds of pleasure-seeking urbanites. In this print, Hiroshige downplayed the human element and focused instead on the lantern, dramatically cropping it at the top and side and exaggerating its proportions.

--Catherine Roche, Curatorial Associate, 2010
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Framed: 14 1/8 x 9 1/4 in. (35.9 x 23.5 cm)
Gift of Mary and Allan Kollar, in honor of the 75th Anniversary of the Seattle Art Museum
2017.23.24
Provenance: [Peter Gilder, Arts and Designs of Japan, San Francisco, California]; purchased from gallery by Allan Kollar, Seattle, Washington; to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 2013
Photo: Susan Cole
location
Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, SAM at 75: Building a Collection for Seattle, May 5 - Sept. 9, 2007.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Fleeting Beauty: Japanese Woodblock Prints, Apr. 1 - July 4, 2010. Text by Catherine Roche. Cat. no. 61, reproduced p. 84.

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