TOKAIDO GOJU-SAN-TSUGI c. 19th century

Curator: The image before us is part of Utagawa Hiroshige's "TOKAIDO GOJU-SAN-TSUGI," presently housed at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: The color palette is striking, almost muted, with these figures wading through the river. It evokes a sense of serene, almost melancholic travel. Curator: Indeed, the composition directs the eye through the landscape. Note the strategic use of negative space which creates a balance between depth and flatness, drawing on traditional Japanese aesthetics. Editor: I am drawn to the labor depicted. The figures wading, bearing burdens, the bridge, a symbol of imposed structure over nature, all highlight the material conditions of travel. Curator: The subject of travel and the landscape as a subject, but what about the formal elements and their structured interplay? Editor: I find the act of production is inextricably linked to how we read the image. A woodblock print is itself a material process, the labor of carving and the impressions of a cultural landscape. Curator: It brings a fresh perspective to the image, but I think both observations highlight how the artifice of the composition shapes our perception.