Cologne, Germany - Wood-block prints by Japanese artist Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) have been put on display in the German city of Cologne, with curators pointing out Friday how the prints influenced the direction of 19th-century European art. The 50 prints show beautiful women in kimonos, peasants in their fields and townsfolk under flowering cherry trees.
The show at the Museum of East Asian Art in Cologne runs till November 30. The art comes from the Hiroshige series, "One Hundred Views of Edo," compiled from 1856 bis 1858. Edo was the name at the time of Tokyo.
The museum said the Japanese art style had its most powerful effect on Europe's Impressionists.
Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) copied several Hiroshige prints in 1887, commenting, "With Japanese eyes you see more, and feel the colours differently."
"Hiroshige gave the European Impressionists a new figurative language to express casual movements, atmosphere and plays of the light," said Adele Schlombs, head of the museum.
The son of a samurai, Hiroshige, was immensely popular in Japan, with some of his coloured prints achieving editions of 15,000.
The details are so rich that they resemble snapshots of life in the vice quarters, the temples and on the streets of Tokyo.
Ordinary people are shown drinking tea, strolling or at work, and a close look shows underclasses such as prostitutes and fishmongers included in the scenes. His humour is also evident in depictions of a fat-bellied Buddha or a toad in festival costume.
"In some ways he was a precursor of the manga artists of today," said Schlombs. She was referring to the Japanese comic book style.
