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The Sumida River at Night — 隅田川夜
by Kobayashi Kiyochika (1847-1915)

	Artist:	Kobayashi Kiyochika (1847-1915) — 小林清親
	Title:	The Sumida River at Night — 隅田川夜
	Series:	Pictures of Famous Places in Tokyo — 東京名所図絵
	Date of first edition?:	Not set
	Publisher (first edition)?:	Fukuda Kumajiro (Gusokuya) — 福田 熊次郎　（具足屋）
	Publisher (this edition)?:	Fukuda Kumajiro (Gusokuya) — 福田 熊次郎　（具足屋）
	Medium (first edition):	Woodblock
	Medium (this edition):	Woodblock
	Format (first edition):	Oban
	Format (this edition):	Oban
	DB artwork code:	28797
	Notes (first edition)?:
	Notes (this edition)?:	The following information was taken from the original web listing of this artwork. Note that there may be some inaccuracies: Title Night at Sumida River Artist Kiyochika Kobayashi 1847-1915 Signature Kobayashi Kiyochika on the left margin and in the plate Dated 1881 Publisher Fukuda Kumajiro Impression excellent -very good Colors excellent - very good Condition very good ... paper toning, slightly soiled, margins lightly soiled, not backed (original state). Numbered 0 Description "Sumidagawa Yoru" (Night Scene at Sumida River). From his Tokyo landscape series in 1876-81. He estublished his reputation as the creator of moody "Kosen-ga"(Light-ray picture) which depicted mostly the night scenes illuminated with strong light and shadows. (Differences between the Original and Re-cut edition listed as item #11100) : (1) Paper ... original is very thin Japanese paper about same as newspaper thickness. The re-cut is somewhat thicker. (2) Marking below the cartouche on the left margin ... The re-cut from Mariashobu has a small triangler mark ("ma" in Japanese), original does not. (3) Plate size ... original plate is somewhat smaller than the re-cut and slightly mis-shaped. Length 325mm x (height at left side is 207mm, but at right side is 203mm). Re-cut has the perfect rectangular shape 325mm x 205mm. (4) Background landscape ... several small but distinct differences. Most notably, the chimneys on the left are missing on the re-cut edition. (5) Colors and the mist ... Original has much bluer hues and the dark sky has lighter "bokashi" toward the horizon. Re-cut edition has more black-gray tones and does not have "bokashi" on the sky. But it has white misty overprinting on the lake. Asides from the price difference, which version do you like more? Format Oban yoko-e Width 9.8 inches = 25.0 cm Height 14.8 inches = 37.5 cm Literature Reigle-Stephens, Amy, "The New Wave: Twentieth Century Japanese Prints from the Robert O. Muller Collection", London and Leiden: Bamboo Publishing Ltd. and Hotei, ISBN 1-870076-19-2, - pg. 58-59, this series described
	Artist Bio:	Kobayashi Kiyochika (小林 清親, September 10, 1847 – November 28, 1915) was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist of the Meiji period. Kiyochika is best known for his prints of scenes around Tokyo which reflect the transformations of modernity. He has been described as 'the last important ukiyo-e master and the first noteworthy print artist of modern Japan... [or, perhaps] an anachronistic survival from an earlier age, a minor hero whose best efforts to adapt ukiyo-e to the new world of Meiji Japan were not quite enough'. The son of a government official, Kiyochika was heavily influenced by Western art, which he studied under Charles Wirgman. He also based a lot of his work on Western etchings, lithographs, and photographs which became widely available in Japan in the Meiji period. Kiyochika also studied Japanese art under the great artists Kawanabe Kyōsai and Shibata Zeshin. His woodblock prints stand apart from those of the earlier Edo period, incorporating not only Western styles but also Western subjects, as he depicted the introduction of such things as horse-drawn carriages, clock towers, and railroads to Tokyo. These show considerable influence from the landscapes of Hokusai and the work of Utagawa Kuniyoshi, but the Western influence is also unquestionable; these are much darker images on the whole, and share many features with Western lithographs and etchings of the time. These were produced primarily from 1876 to 1881; Kiyochika would continue to publish ukiyo-e prints for the rest of his life, but also worked extensively in illustrations and sketches for newspapers, magazines, and books. He also produced a number of prints depicting scenes from the Sino-Japanese War and Russo-Japanese War, collaborating with caption writer Koppi Dojin, penname of Nishimori Takeki (1861-1913), to contribute a number of illustrations to the propaganda series Nihon banzai hyakusen hyakushō ('Long live Japan: 100 victories, 100 laughs'). (from Wiki) 版画家。東京生。江戸本所御蔵屋敷の子。幼名は勝之助。画を志し、ワーグマン・河鍋暁斎・柴田是真に師事、浮世絵師として出発する。光線と影を取り入れた新様式の洋風版画は「光線画」の名で人気を博し、両国大火後は「清親ポンチ」と呼ばれる風刺画を『団団珍聞』などに描く。錦絵の衰退により肉筆画に移行した。大正４年（1915）歿、69才。