4. Tsukudajima and Eitai Bridge 1857

This print of Tsukudajima and Eitai Bridge was made by Utagawa Hiroshige, using woodblock printing, a painstaking process of carving an image into wood, inking it, and pressing it onto paper. It's an amazing feat of artistry, and what seems like an effortless atmospheric scene would have required many hours to produce. Hiroshige has made excellent use of the wood's natural grain to depict the scene. Notice the gradation of color in the night sky. The different shades of dark blue and the crispness of the lines are the qualities of woodblock printing which involves layering colors, and carefully aligning each block to build up the final image. Woodblock printing in Japan was closely tied to commerce, allowing artists to produce images more quickly, and cater to a growing urban population. This wasn't just art, but also a form of mass communication. Hiroshige's mastery elevates this popular medium into something truly special. It reminds us that the most beautiful things can come from the most practical processes.