Kusatsu: The Crossroads

Utagawa Hiroshige

c. 1835–38 · Woodblock print; ink and colour on paper · The Art Institute of Chicago

Size3:2 ratio

Frame

$59Unframed print · made to order

📦 Free shipping on every order, arriving in 4–9 business days with production included. Express ($14.90) at checkout arrives in 4–6 business days.

Complete the setHangs well with these two

This print

Kusatsu: The Crossroads

Agematsu: The Waterfall

Akasaka: The Bridge over the Stream

3 × $59 at 24 × 16 in, unframed = $177 → $159.30 as a set · 10% included · free shipping

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Giclée-printed to order on heavyweight matte fine-art paper

Free shipping worldwide · arrives in 4–9 business days

Arrives perfect or we reprint it — free

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About this work

Artist: Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858)
Year: c. 1835–38
Medium: Woodblock print; ink and colour on paper
Original size: 24.4 × 36.5 cm
Collection: The Art Institute of Chicago (impression 1939.2220; many other impressions exist)
Movement: Ukiyo-e
Series: Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaidō

Travellers meet at a sandy crossroads: three in wide hats and travelling coats stand talking, a woman with a bundle turns toward them, and a boy with a load of brushwood walks past. In front, a small plank bridge crosses a blue stream, and behind, red and blue roofs sit between green slopes planted with young pines, below grey mountains. This is print sixty-nine of The Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaidō, published by Hōeidō and later Kinjudō, c. 1835–38. Keisai Eisen began the series and Utagawa Hiroshige, who designed this sheet, completed it. Kusatsu was the sixty-eighth station on the Nakasendō, the inland road from Edo to Kyoto, where it joined the Tōkaidō; impressions vary in colour and condition.

This print reproduces the whole work, uncropped, from a high-resolution scan of the original. The original is in the public domain.

Where it works

Warm sand, soft green slopes and red and blue roofs under a deep blue sky, for a hallway, entrance or study at 24×16 in natural wood. It pairs with Hiroshige's Kusatsu: Famous Post House, the same town on the Tōkaidō, where the two roads meet.

Style, size & framing detail

Style: Ukiyo-e painting
Era: 19th century (c. 1835–38)
Orientation: Landscape
Palette: cornflower blue
Mood: calm
Rooms: hallway or entryway, study or library, living room, dining room
Good gift for: housewarming, travelers, art lovers

Size. We'd hang this one at 24×16. Prints at 18×12, 24×16 in — 18×12 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 24×16 above a console or sideboard.

Framing. The gallery ground is part of the print, so frame it without a mat — natural wood flatters the lighter palette; black sharpens it.

Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).

Details & materials

• Restored in-house from the original painting — cleaned and colour-trued at museum resolution • Heavyweight matte fine-art paper, giclée printed at 300 DPI • Sizes: 18×12, 24×16 in; every size also available framed • Framed option: wood frame in black or natural wood, 12 mm wide and 22 mm deep, with a plexiglass front and no mat; the print is mounted inside and the frame's outside measures the listed size • Made to order; colours may vary slightly from screen

Shipping & returns

Printed after you order at the facility nearest you, then shipped. Standard delivery is free and takes 4–9 business days from order to door in the US, UK and EU (up to 10 elsewhere); Express takes 4–6 business days. Because each print is made to order we don't take change-of-mind returns, but if it arrives damaged or flawed we'll reprint or refund it — no return needed. Full policy →

Is this the whole painting, or a crop?

The whole work, uncropped. The image fills the print at the painting's own proportions; nothing is trimmed to fit a frame.

Is Kusatsu: The Crossroads in the public domain?

Yes. Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858) died more than 70 years ago and the work was published before 1929, so the painting itself is public domain. This print is a reproduction made from a high-resolution scan of the original, which is held by The Art Institute of Chicago (impression 1939.2220; many other impressions exist).

What is it printed on?

Heavyweight matte fine-art paper with pigment inks, made to order in 18×12 and 24×16 inches; every size is also offered framed in black or natural wood, with plexiglass and no mat. Colours are matched to the scan, not brightened.

When was Kusatsu: The Crossroads painted, and in what medium?

Kusatsu: The Crossroads dates from c. 1835–38 and was made in woodblock print; ink and colour on paper; the original measures 24.4 × 36.5 cm.

What size works above a sofa or bed?

Across a three-seat sofa or a queen bed, 24×16 is the size that reads as one statement piece; 18×12 suits a narrower wall or a pair. For Kusatsu: The Crossroads we'd choose 24×16. It is a landscape print, wider than it is tall, at the painting's own proportions.

About this design

Kusatsu: The Crossroads (Utagawa Hiroshige) — Kusatsu: The Crossroads, Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaidō · Utagawa Hiroshige · c. 1835–38. This is a fine-art reproduction of a public-domain masterwork, shown whole and uncropped on a gallery ground, printed to order on heavyweight matte fine-art paper. Every size is offered unframed or framed in black or natural wood. Part of the Madten Fine Art Collection. — — — Printed to order and shipped by our production partner, Gelato.

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The Madten promise

Gallery-grade archival giclée. Rich pigment inks on heavyweight fine-art paper (or gallery-wrapped canvas) — built to last, not a poster-shop print.

Arrives perfect or we reprint it — free. Every piece is made to order; if it shows up damaged or flawed we remake it, no return needed.

Free worldwide shipping. Made & shipped from the facility nearest you — most orders arrive in 4–9 business days.

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