Suhara: Sudden Shower
1835 or 1836 · Woodblock print; ink and colour on paper · The Cleveland Museum of Art
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About this work
- Artist
- Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858)
- Year
- 1835 or 1836
- Medium
- Woodblock print; ink and colour on paper
- Original size
- 25.4 × 36.2 cm
- Collection
- The Cleveland Museum of Art (impression 1924.970; many other impressions exist)
- Movement
- Ukiyo-e
- Series
- Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaidō
A sudden downpour sweeps across the picture in long grey lines, and travellers crowd under the thatched roof of a small roadside shrine beside a huge tree, peering out from beneath their hats. Two bearers dash toward the shelter with a palanquin wrapped in a straw cover, and far behind, a man and a packhorse pass as dark silhouettes in the rain. This is print forty of The Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaidō, published by Hōeidō and later Kinjudō in 1835 or 1836. Keisai Eisen began the series and Utagawa Hiroshige, who designed this sheet, completed it. Suhara was the thirty-ninth station on the Nakasendō, the inland road from Edo to Kyoto; the English title is descriptive, and 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
Rain greys and pale straw with dark green leaves and touches of indigo and red, for a study, hallway or home office at 36×24 in black. It pairs with Hiroshige's Shōno: Driving Rain for two of his storm scenes on the road.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Ukiyo-e painting
- Era
- 19th century (1835 or 1836)
- Orientation
- Landscape
- Palette
- cornflower blue
- Mood
- calm
- Rooms
- hallway or entryway, study or library, home office, living room, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, travelers, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 36×24. Prints at 18×12, 24×16, 36×24 in — 18×12 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 24×16 above a console or sideboard; 36×24 as the statement piece above a sofa or headboard.
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
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is Suhara: Sudden Shower in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was Suhara: Sudden Shower painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
An exhibition poster
The same artwork as a gallery exhibition poster — title, artist & date typeset beneath the image on a soft ground.
