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Group: Modern Life Modern Vision Artist: Utagawa HIROSHIGE Birth/Death: 1797–1858 Title: Ochanomizu Date Made: 1853 Lender: Trustees of The British Museum, London This picture depicts a suburb of Edo – Japans’ capital, and now the site of Tokyo. The suburb, Ochanomizu, is presented by Hiroshige, in mid winter, in colours consisting mostly of greys and blues. The areas of unprinted paper have been outlined in black and softened with tones of grey to give depiction of snowdrifts and snowflakes falling. Colour highlights draw our attention to the two women in the foreground. In this print Hiroshige has presented a partial view of a foreground object juxtaposed against a distant background. This practice was a radical departure from the traditional European approach to composition and was used by Monet in images such as Garden of the Princess. More details Click image to enlarge