Utagawa Hiroshige – Various Fish: Sea Bream and Sanshō Branches

With Uozukushi – Tai ni sanshō (Sea Bream – Sea Bream), Utagawa Hiroshige transforms a simple natural subject into an image of great delicacy. The sea bream, poised with its full weight on the page, seems almost to float between real presence and silence. Its clear eye, the regularity of its scales, the fineness of its fins, and the few sprigs of sanshō are enough to create a remarkably understated composition. Nothing is superfluous. Everything rests on the balance between emptiness, line, and matter. This restraint gives the print a very particular presence: it first attracts with its purity, then gradually reveals the subtlety of its drawing and the quiet poetry that emanates from it. Here we find the refinement characteristic of Hiroshige's finest works, capable of evoking emotion with very few effects, simply through the precision of his gaze and the intelligence of his framing. It is a print that is at once decorative, contemplative, and unique, finding its natural place in an interior that appreciates Japanese elegance.

About this edition: This print, from the Uozukushi (Various Fish) series, reproduces one of Hiroshige's most understated and elegant compositions. This Japanese reprint from the Shōwa era, printed using traditional woodblock printing techniques, captivates with the delicacy of its printing, the subtlety of its tones, and the silent presence of the subject, admirably highlighted by the purity of the background. The quality of the printing allows one to fully appreciate the rhythm of the scales, the fineness of the lines, and the exquisite balance of the whole.

Artist: Utagawa Hiroshige
Title: Various Fish: Sea Bream and Sanshō Branches
Japanese Title: 魚づくし鯛に山椒
Romanization: Uozukushi – Tai ni sanshō
Series: Uozukushi (Various Fish)
Technique: Japanese woodblock print
Edition: Japanese reprint from the Shōwa era
Dimensions with margins: 38 × 27 cm
Dimensions of image: 36.2 × 25.5 cm
Condition: Good condition, trace of a small cut in the lower margin, see photo
Origin: Japan
Period: 20th century
About the artist:
Famous for his landscapes, Hiroshige reveals here another facet of his talent: an extreme attention to form, rhythm, and silence. The image. With the Uozukushi series, he composes highly refined sheets, where the observation of living things meets a distinctly Japanese decorative sensibility. The sea bream, a subject both noble and auspicious in Japanese culture, finds here a simple, elegant, and profoundly serene presence.

Ref: VUNJBM0USY