Kameyama: Clear Weather after Snow (Kameyama, yukibare), from the series Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō (Tōkaidō gojÅ«san tsugi no uchi), also known as the First Tōkaidō or Great Tōkaidō c. 1833 - 1834

Editor: This is Utagawa Hiroshige's "Kameyama: Clear Weather after Snow," part of the Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō series. The monochromatic palette almost feels like a photograph. What can you tell me about this work? Curator: The print's creation hinges on the woodblock process – a collaboration of artist, carver, printer, and publisher. Notice the flat planes, achieved through layering ink. What social structures enabled such production and consumption of these images? Editor: It's interesting how such a mass-produced item could depict such a quiet, natural scene. So, it's not about the single artist, but the system around them? Curator: Precisely! The Tōkaidō road itself fueled this system. Who was travelling, what were they buying, and how did these prints become commodities in that exchange? Editor: That gives a whole new perspective to what I initially thought was just a peaceful landscape. Thanks! Curator: Indeed. Thinking about the means of production transforms our understanding.