The sketchbooks of Hiroshige

"These pencil, ink, and watercolor drawings by the great Japanese master Hiroshige Ando (1797-1858) were made when he was at the height of his talent and popularity. Rarely circulated or seen, the drawings, which appear in two sketchbooks, range from everyday scenes of a worker in a rice field stopping to smoke or fishing boats at work, to episodes of classic Japanese folklore and fantasy. The colors are fresh, the renderings fluid, and the use of space astonishing. With just a few brushstrokes, Hiroshige creates scenes of enduring elegance. As Daniel Boorstin states in his foreword, "No study of art history or chronology is needed to enjoy the shock and revelation of the blank page transformed." Even those unacquainted with Japanese art will be enchanted by their delicate beauty." "Hiroshige executed these drawings around 1840 while traveling in Japan; they are now in the Crosby Stuart Noyes Collection in the Library of Congress. This one-volume edition has been printed in Japan to ensure the utmost care in reproducing the subtle nuances of Hiroshige's masterpieces, which are reproduced to size and in their original sequence."--Jacket.