Ryōgoku Bridge and the Great Riverbank
1856 · Woodblock print; ink and color on paper · National Diet Library, Tokyo
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About this work
- Artist
- Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858)
- Year
- 1856
- Medium
- Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
- Original size
- approx. 36 × 24 cm (ōban)
- Collection
- National Diet Library, Tokyo (impression pid 1303243; many other impressions exist)
- Movement
- Ukiyo-e
- Series
- One Hundred Famous Views of Edo
The long wooden Ryōgoku Bridge sweeps diagonally across the sheet, its deck crowded with people, while boats of every size move on the deep blue Sumida below. In the foreground the rooftops and yellow awnings of stalls line the riverbank, and white sails stand out against a rose sky. The print is number fifty-nine in One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, published by Uoya Eikichi, with a censor's seal of the eighth month of 1856. Ryōgoku, two provinces, took its name from the bridge that joined Musashi and Shimōsa, and the open ground at its ends was one of the liveliest entertainment districts in Edo. Hiroshige views it from above, so the whole span reads as one strong line; impressions vary in colour and condition.
This exhibition-poster edition shows the whole work beneath original typography set in-house. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
Deep river blue with a cream bridge and a pink sky, for a living room, hallway or home office at 16×24 in natural wood. It pairs with Fireworks by Ryōgoku Bridge, the same bridge on a summer night.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Exhibition poster of a Ukiyo-e painting
- Era
- 19th century (1856)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Palette
- cornflower blue, cream & beige
- Mood
- classic
- Rooms
- living room, hallway or entryway, home office, dining room, dorm room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, travelers, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 16×24. Prints at 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in — 12×18 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 16×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway; 24×36 as the statement piece above a sofa or bed.
Framing. Exhibition posters sit best in a slim black frame with no mat — the typeset margin is the mat.
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 Ryōgoku Bridge and the Great Riverbank in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was Ryōgoku Bridge and the Great Riverbank painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
A fine-art print
The same artwork as a clean fine-art print — the image shown large with a minimal caption.
