Yoshiwara 1906

Curator: Today we're observing "Yoshiwara," a woodblock print created in 1906 by Utagawa Hiroshige I, housed here at the Rijksmuseum. It is a remarkable example of Ukiyo-e art from that period. Editor: The first thing that strikes me is how delicate the line work is. There’s a real sense of airiness, like I’m looking at a memory. It almost glows with that soft light, even though the colors are so muted. Curator: Indeed. Notice how Hiroshige has skillfully used color to create depth. The limited palette—primarily blues, greens, and browns—works together with the texture of the lines in creating a sense of perspective in this tranquil scene. It draws the viewer's eye along the path. Editor: It feels less like a destination and more like an ethereal in-between space, a fleeting moment. I wonder what’s at the end of the path... Maybe not as important as the journey itself, right? Or, maybe there's nothing else out there beyond those pines. Curator: Precisely. In structural terms, the strategic placement of pine trees serves as framing devices, directing the viewer's gaze toward the receding figures. It evokes traditional Japanese gardens, where framing views are meticulously constructed for aesthetic appreciation. Editor: You are right! And in that sense, there is an interesting sense of movement that keeps your eyes circulating back to the main figures. Are they traveling towards or away from us, do you think? It definitely invokes this sense of calm wanderlust in the viewer. Curator: It encapsulates a distinct sensibility within Orientalism. Hiroshige’s manipulation of space, form, and line epitomizes the qualities often linked with the art. What are we left to contemplate once the figures disappear entirely? The beauty in the journey to that destination and how quickly the moment dissipates. Editor: Right. Beauty captured in a temporal snapshot that lingers even when it's gone, and now we, like them, move on with that memory captured by Hiroshige!