Itahana, Station 15 from the series "Sixty-Nine Stations of the Kisokaidō" (Kisokaidō rokujÅ«kyÅ«tsugi no uchi) c. late 1830s

Curator: This is Keisai Eisen's "Itahana, Station 15" from his series "Sixty-Nine Stations of the Kisokaido," currently held at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: The immediate feel is frigid. The stark white snow weighs down the trees, even as the figures trudge onward. What a testament to the working class. Curator: Indeed. Eisen’s prints, particularly this series, document the Kisokaido, a vital postal route. It highlights the infrastructures that supported Edo period commerce and governance. Editor: The woodblock technique adds a distinct layer of labor to the scene. Imagine the carving and printing involved in capturing such detail, making this art accessible beyond elite circles. Curator: Precisely. And these prints were a commodity themselves, reflecting the growing commercial culture of the time. They were not just art, but documentation of social mobility through travel. Editor: Seeing the weariness etched into the landscape itself, created by these processes, offers a stark view on the means by which goods and people moved in the Edo period. Curator: Right, Eisen masterfully used the woodblock print to represent both the beauty and the underlying labor of a vital infrastructure. Editor: A beautiful meeting of process and setting, offering so much on social movement and making at that time.