The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of November 30, 2023

Fireworks at Ryōgoku, from the series One Hundred Views of Famous Places in Edo

1858

Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川 広重

(Japanese, 1797–1858)

Japan, Edo period

(1615-1868)

Color woodblock print

Sheet: 33.7 x 22 cm (13 1/4 x 8 11/16 in.)

Bequest of James Parmelee 1940.986

Location

not on view

Description

The Ryōgoku Bridge, a repeated subject of Hiroshige’s prints, spanned the Sumida River connecting bustling Edo (present-day Tokyo) neighborhoods. Here, Hiroshige devoted nearly half the composition to the night sky glittering with fireworks. Restaurants and other businesses along the riverbank frequently sponsored these dazzling displays during the 1850s. The pyrotechnics drew large crowds, who gathered atop the bridge, along the shore, in teashops, and on rented pleasure boats to enjoy the show.

Inscriptions

Inscription

Signature: Hiroshige ga. Publisher: Uoya Eikichi (trimmed). Censorship Seal: aratame (trimmed).

Provenance
?–1940
James Parmelee [1855-1931] bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art
1940–
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Milliken, William M., Henry S. Francis, Howard Hollis, Gertrude Underhill, Silvia A. Wunderlich, and Nell G. Sill. "The Bequest of James Parmelee." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 28, no. 2 (1941): 15-31. Mentioned: p. 19 www.jstor.org
Grossman, Nancy, James T. Ulak, Marjorie Williams, and Laurence Channing. Art of Japan: Masterpieces from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2005. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 115
Exhibition history

Japanese Woodblock Prints: Themes and Techniques. The Cleveland Museum of Art Education Department, Cleveland, OH (1980).

Later Japanese Art Gallery Rotation (Gallery 113). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (February 20–May 6, 2003).

Later Japanese Art Gallery Rotation (Gallery 113). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (August 25–December 2, 2003).

Visions of Japan: Prints and Paintings from Cleveland Collections. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (December 12, 2004-April 10, 2005).

Promenades, Pageants, Processions, and Pilgrimages. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (August 25, 1981-January 3, 1982).

The View from Afar: Whistler and the Japanese Print. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 9-October 16, 1988).

Japanese Gallery 235 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (October 30, 2018-January 6, 2019).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1940.986