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Hiroshige (歌川広重; 1797-1858), Japanese painter and printmaker, known especially for his landscape prints. The last great figure of the Ukiyo-e, or popular, school of printmaking, he transmuted everyday landscapes into intimate, lyrical scenes that made him even more successful than his contemporary, Hokusai. Ando, like his father, was a fire warden. The prints of Hokusai are said to have first kindled in him the desire to become an artist, and he entered the studio of Utagawa Toyohiro (歌川豊広), a renowned painter, as an apprentice. In 1812 Hiroshige took his teacher's name (a sign of graduation), signing his work Utagawa Hiroshige. His real name was Ando Juemon (安藤重右衛門) and he was called Tokutarō (徳太郎) as a child. He was also known as Tetsuzō (鉄蔵) and Tokubē (徳兵衛). He was also known as Ando Hiroshige (安藤広重), but he never called himself by this name. His gō/gagō (号/雅号) or artist names include Ichiyūsai (一遊斎; 一幽斎), Ichiryūsai (一立斎), and Ryūsai (立斎). His career falls roughly into three periods. From 1811 to about 1830 he created prints of traditional subjects such as young women and actors. During the next 15 years he won fame as a landscape artist, reaching a peak of success and achievement in 1833 when his masterpiece, the series Tokaido gojūsan tsugi (東海道五十三次; the series Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido), was published. He maintained this high level of craftmanship in other travel series, including the series Kiso Kaidō Rokujūkyū-tsugi (木曾街道六十九次; Sixty-nine Stations of the Kiso Kaidō). The work he did during the third period, the last years of his life, is sometimes of lesser quality, as he appears to have hurriedly met the demands of popularity. He died of cholera on October 12, 1858, in Edo. With Hokusai, Hiroshige dominated the popular art of Japan in the first half of the 19th century. His work was not as bold or innovative as that of the older master, but he captured, in a poetic, gentle way that all could understand, the ordinary person's experience of the Japanese landscape, as well as the varied moods of memorable places at different times. His total output was immense, some 5400 prints in all. Artist flourished dates: 1817-1858.

Born: 1797
Died: 1858