The Noda Jewel River in Mutsu Province c. 1835

Editor: So, this is Utagawa Hiroshige's "The Noda Jewel River in Mutsu Province" from around 1835, currently housed at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. It's a woodblock print, which gives it a delicate and somewhat melancholic feel. What catches your eye when you look at it? Curator: I'm immediately drawn to the materiality and the process behind it. Consider the woodblock print technique: each line, each gradation of color, demanded a physical carving and layering. How does this influence your perception of the depicted landscape and the figure within it? Editor: I guess I hadn't really thought about it that way. It’s easy to see it as just a pretty landscape scene, but knowing it's a print makes me consider the labor involved and that it's not a unique object but possibly made in multiples. Curator: Exactly. This changes our understanding of its value and purpose, and then it invites us to examine the role of ukiyo-e prints in society: their production, distribution, and consumption by different social classes. Editor: It also changes my reading of the landscape itself, right? Considering how resources and labor might be tied to this "ideal" vision of nature. Curator: Precisely. Is the river a source of trade? What kind of agriculture surrounds it, considering it's from Mutsu province? This materiality ties the work to a much wider economic and historical system, creating what we call "a constructed image." Editor: So, looking beyond the aesthetic surface leads to asking questions about the entire economic context? Curator: Absolutely. The "pretty landscape" becomes entangled with the reality of production, class, and perhaps even exploitation. Understanding art requires a dissection of how it’s made and what systems enabled that making. Editor: That's such a different lens than how I normally approach art! Curator: It can reveal powerful insights! I hope it is useful! Editor: This makes me want to learn more about the woodblock printing process and the lives of the artisans. It's all interconnected, as you said. Thanks!