Tsuchiyama 1906

This print, Tsuchiyama, was made by Utagawa Hiroshige sometime in the mid-1800s, and I'm immediately struck by the delicate lines and muted color palette. Imagine Hiroshige, block printing this scene, one layer at a time. He's capturing the essence of a rainy day with such precision. The vertical lines mimic the falling rain, blurring the distinction between the sky and the landscape. You can almost feel the dampness in the air. I sympathize with him, trying to capture the atmosphere, the way the light filters through the trees. It makes me think about other landscape painters, like Turner, who were also obsessed with capturing the ephemeral effects of light and weather. There is a constant exchange of ideas across time, where each artist is in conversation with those who came before, inspiring new ways of seeing and expressing the world. Painting, like any art form, is a journey of exploration, embracing ambiguity, and inviting multiple interpretations.