{"product_id":"hiroshige-eisen-by-andreas-marks-9783836539388","title":"Hiroshige \u0026 Eisen","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Kisokaido route through Japan was ordained in the early 1600s by the country's then-ruler Tokugawa Ieyasu, who decreed that staging posts be installed along the length of the \u003cb\u003earduous passage between Edo (present-day Tokyo) and Kyoto\u003c\/b\u003e. Inns, shops, and restaurants were established to provide sustenance and lodging to weary travellers. In 1835, renowned woodblock print artist \u003cb\u003eKeisai Eisen\u003c\/b\u003e was commissioned to create a series of works to chart the Kisokaido journey. After producing 24 prints, Eisen was replaced by \u003cb\u003eUtagawa Hiroshige\u003c\/b\u003e, who completed the series of 70 prints in 1838.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBoth \u003cb\u003eEisen and Hiroshige were master print practitioners\u003c\/b\u003e. In \u003ci\u003eThe Sixty-Nine Stations along the Kisokaido\u003c\/i\u003e, we find the artists' distinct styles as much as their shared expertise. From the busy starting post of Nihonbashi to the castle town of Iwamurata, Eisen opts for a more muted palette but excels in figuration, particularly of \u003cb\u003eglamorous women\u003c\/b\u003e, and relishes \u003cb\u003esnapshots of activity along the route\u003c\/b\u003e, from shoeing a horse to winnowing rice. Hiroshige demonstrates his mastery of landscape with \u003cb\u003egrandiose and evocative scenes\u003c\/b\u003e, whether it's the peaceful banks of the Ota River, the forbidding Wada Pass, or a moonlit ascent between Yawata and Mochizuki.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTaken as a whole, \u003ci\u003eThe Sixty-Nine Stations\u003c\/i\u003e collection represents not only a masterpiece of woodblock practice, including \u003cb\u003ebold compositions\u003c\/b\u003e and an \u003cb\u003eexperimental use of colour\u003c\/b\u003e, but also a \u003cb\u003echarming tapestry of 19th-century Japan\u003c\/b\u003e, long before the spectre of industrialisation. This TASCHEN XXL edition revives the series with due scale and splendour. Sourced from the \u003cb\u003eonly-known set of a near-complete run of the first edition of the series\u003c\/b\u003e, this legendary publication is \u003cb\u003ereproduced in the finest quality\u003c\/b\u003e, bound in the Japanese tradition and with uncut paper. A perfect companion piece to TASCHEN's \u003ci\u003eOne Hundred Famous Views of Edo\u003c\/i\u003e, it is \u003cb\u003eat once a visual delight and a major artefact from the bygone era of Imperial Japan.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Thames and Hudson (Australia) Pty Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47596584337644,"sku":"9783836539388","price":530.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9783836539388-hiroshige-eisen.jpg?v=1777931342","url":"https:\/\/bookhero.co.nz\/products\/hiroshige-eisen-by-andreas-marks-9783836539388","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}