Hiroshige & Kunisada - Complete album of 55 prints - "Two Brushes" 53 stations of the Tokaido road - 1854-7 publisher Maruya Kyūshirõ

"Two-Brushes" edition of "The Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido Road"
Sōhitsu gojūsan tsugi - 双筆五十三次

By Utagawa Hiroshige and Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III)

Published by Maruya Kyūshirō from 1854-57

Vertical Oban format (37.2 x 25.7)

55 (of 55) prints - complete (no title page)

Print series on the Tokaido road - the famous road between Kyoto (the ancient capital) and Edo (modern day Tokyo) - are the most celebrated in the Ukiyo-e format. This work brings together two of the most famous artists of the "golden age" of Japanese woodblock print - Hiroshige and Kunisada.

Condition: Original decorated silk covered boards with some wear. Restored binding  and joins between some prints. Occasional small losses and wear to prints. The prints are backed and bound with some trimming of outer border but no losses to the image or seals. Colours, especially the blues and reds, are bright as the prints have been protected from sunlight by remaining in the binding. Housed in protective solander box.

Hiroshige was famous for his beautiful landscape prints, often in the vertical format rather than the previously used landscape view. His most famous series, 100 views of Edo, is one of the most famous of all series of Japanese prints, and he is rightly celebrated on account of his mastering of the meisho-e art.

Kunisada was the best known actor print maker of his day - bringing to the masses images of their favourite "Kabuki" actors in vividly drawn and accessible prints.

This series allows the two artists to bring together their skills to illustrate scenes along the Tokaido road. Some of the most beautiful prints include those with snow filled backgrounds, deep blue sea scapes and views of mount fuji.

It is uncommon to find a complete set of Hiroshige prints in an original album. The prints are bound into the album and therefore have not been displayed, allowing them to maintain their vivid colours which would otherwise have been faded by sunlight.

Provenance: Beres Gallery Paris - stamp to inner binding