Hiroshige (Basic Art)

I bought it new when the price dropped to $7.09 from amazon.com with prime shipping. I have another very nice Hiroshige book Hiroshige: Prints and Drawings that includes some very nice prints and a good bio, but I figured why not? And boy was I surprised. This book contains around 95 pages, and though most of the prints are not large, there are a lot of them. Several of the prints are thumbnail sized, others are half page to nearly full page. But this is not truly a 'picture book'. Where this version excels is in the writing. The author does a great job of highlighting the life and work of Hiroshige AND other Ukiyo-E artists of the era. It's truly the comparisons that make this work shine. We are shown, in a later chapter, influences he made on other artists, such as Manet and Van Gogh. These comparisons are not stating "these guys copied Hiroshige" but instead point out some artistic similarities, some resulting in artists like Manet being called 'Japonistic' or the flatter, more 2-d style being labeled 'Japonism'. There are still a good number of his prints in this book, and several from prominent museums that do not appear in other collections. The vast majority of the prints highlighted show people doing something. Which is different than the Prestel book which shows a lot of landscapes or far away images of Edo where you don't really get up close and personal with the people in some of these prints. There are also a number of prints with birds and fish. Again, most are not large, but there is a nice selection included. I would say this is a good book to start with if you are interested in Ukiyo-e. If you are a fan of Hiroshige, then you will surely enjoy it as an addition to your Ukiyo-e library. This is a real treat and a great value.

Beautiful book! I love it

This book is a typical example of a great TASCHEN book release. The artist featured was a superb artisan, and this is proven by the wide diaspora that Hiroshige had a chance to see, and his wood block prints are a wonderful testament to that fact. I highly recommend this work to anyone with an interest in the Japan of the past; this book will feed the fires of your imagination.

All Taschen Basic Art books are excellent introductions to their subjects. They are small, inexpensive and informative. The print quality is excellent. Some reproductions are a good size but most are small due to the book size, however I don't mind as these books are best used as easy to handle references. I have several Taschen Basic Art books and highly recommend them.

Prints are excellent, especially for the price. Text is muddled and unclear in the parts where she attempts to explain the production of the prints. Publisher is Taschen not Taschew.

This book was a gift for my daughter who is an art major. She was thrilled to receive it!

This is a very beautiful piece of art in itself. The quality of these books are great and the art that Hiroshige has done are striking and a sight to see. I like that in some pages, his paintings fill up both sides of the page, and how it is more centered on the artist’s work rather than the contexts or summaries in long essays. Definitely a nice add to your collection.

Very good condition, and I like it! Thanks for a good book on the Japanese Arts^^