Description
Rare triptych of polychrome woodblock prints of large-format oban (大判) made in 1886 by the artist Utagawa Shigekiyo (歌川重清) and entitled “Tokyo, Asakusa. View of the Kanzeon temple area and the adjacent park: distant representation of the crowd which animates the new area of brick buildings” (東京浅草観世音並公園地煉瓦屋新築繁盛新地遠景之図). With the expression “Kanzeon temple” the author refers to the building of Kannon (観音), the bodhisattva to whom is dedicated the temple complex Sensoji (浅草寺), still one of the most popular destinations of the Japanese capital.
About Shigekiyo, active between 1860 and 1890, we do not have much information. It seems he was a student of the famous Utagawa Hiroshige (歌川広重) and is known for several of his depictions of the city of Tokyo in which he was able to capture, as in this case, the architectural changes, but also economic and social, during the modernization of the Meiji period (明治時代).
The precious triptych on Japanese washi paper (和紙), despite the obvious signs of aging and the ancient restorations, is in fair general conditions.
