Scheduled Exhibition Actor Parodies of the Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido Highway
Exhibit Period
Friday, March 9, 2012 - Sunday, April 15, 2012
Exhibit Times
9:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
(last admissions at 4:30 p.m.)
Organized by
The Nakagawa-machi Bato Hiroshige Museum of Art
Museum closed
March 12, 21, 26; April 2, 9
Admission Fee
Adults: 500 (450) yen High School, College Students: 300 (270) yen ※Fees in parentheses for groups of 20 or more ※Visitors age 70 and above, and junior high school age and below admitted for free Visitors with a disability certificate, and one accompanying caregiver admitted for half-price.
Overview
Utagawa Hiroshige’s Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido Highway, produced in 1833, is a famous work depicting the Tokaido Highway, but a variety of artists drew "Tokaido Highway Series" in the years that followed. Works published to appeal to the general public included those in which scenery on the highway was combined with a contemporary actor or beauty into a single print.
Actor Parodies of the Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido Highway was a work drawn by Toyokuni III. The censor’s approval seals show it was published during the one-year period between the second month of 1852 and the first month of 1853 as a set of what is said to be more than 140 oban-sized prints. At first, the original edition was slated to conclude with 55 prints, but due to continued popularity, prints of intermediate stations and two-print depictions were added.
In these actor prints, drawn by Toyokuni III during his most mature period, the composition has the actor in half-length portraiture in front, while separated within a cloud in the upper part of the print background the scenery is depicted. This is a great opportunity to learn who were the most popular actors of the time. It’s our desire that you find great satisfaction in seeing these actors as they strike famous poses.
Museum Talk
Saturday, March 10, talk begins at 1:30 p.m. (presented by a museum curator)