Horikiri Iris Garden (Horikiri no hanashōbu), Number 64 from the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei) Possibly 1857

Editor: This is Utagawa Hiroshige's "Horikiri Iris Garden," from his series "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo." It's a woodblock print, and I'm struck by how the irises in the foreground dominate the scene. What can you tell me about the cultural context in which this print was produced? Curator: Consider the woodblock process, a mass-produced art form. It speaks volumes about art consumption in Edo-period Japan. The image of the iris garden was commodified, accessible, reflecting a specific class's leisure and appreciation of cultivated nature. How does the print’s materiality influence its meaning, do you think? Editor: It's fascinating how the process of making it accessible also shapes its meaning. I hadn't considered that. Curator: Exactly! The labor involved, the distribution networks, all contribute to understanding not just the *what* but the *how* and *why* of art's place in society.