Kobayashi Kiyochika
1879
Donated by the Homma family
Here we see the scenery next to the Sumida River in Tokyo. Many stakes were driven into the ground in order to prevent erosion, which caused it to be called “the One Hundred Stakes”. It portrays the moment of anticipation as the morning sun rises and dawn breaks.
Kobayashi Kiyochika (1847-1915) is one of the famous ukiyo-e artists of the Meiji period, alongside Tsukioka Yoshitoshi and Toyohara Kunichika, and it’s also said that he learned western painting from the Englishman Charles Wirgman. He became well-known following the release of the scenery painting series “Famous Places of Tokyo”, featuring the spatial balance of light and shadow found in western painting, which was known as “Kōsen-ga” (light beam paintings), and also created bird-and-flower paintings, still lives, historical scenes, and caricatures.