The Sixty-Nine Stations of the Kisokaido

Reproduced from the finest surviving edition of a rare manuscript, The Sixty-Nine Stations of the Kisokaido brings Hiroshige and Eisen’s portrait of daily life in nineteenth-century Japan to Western audiences for the first time. Each of the seventy-one images teems with unique characters, from beggars and brawling men to boaters and finely clothed women. Behind these travellers loom castles, cities, powerful waterfalls and many other sites familiar to lovers of Japanese history. Comments by Sebastian Izzard, Ph.D., accompany each image, not only providing insight into their subject matter, but also discussing their survival during the dramatic social shifts and economic hardship of Hiroshige and Eisen’s time. This book tells the story of a landmark, two immortal artists, and an enduring masterpiece.

_________

Reproduced from the finest surviving edition of the original manuscript, this book offers an unforgettable portrait of daily life in 19th-century Japan. Each plate teems with unique characters, from beggars and brawling men to boaters and finely clothed women; and the artists' gentle humor imbues them all with remarkable, human vitality. Behind the travelers loom castles, cities, powerful waterfalls and other sites familiar to lovers of Japanese history. Readers will travel from station to station through changing seasons, rural roads and city streets, on a journey that explores every stratum of a diverse society.

Commentary by art scholar and curator Sebastian Izzard, Ph.D. accompanies each image, offering new insights into the artists' processes, and into the survival of their work. Many of the wood blocks used in printing the original Sixty Nine Stations changed radically after the early editions, and Izzard addresses the protean nature of each image. His commentary details the manuscript's survival during the dramatic social shifts and economic hardship of Hiroshige and Eisen's time, urging an appreciation for its evolution over the years. The Sixty-Nine Stations of the Kisokaido tells the story of a landmark, immortal artists, and an enduring masterpiece. 71 color images.

About the Author:

Sebastian Izzard received his Ph.D. from the School of Oriental and African Studies, London University. After over twenty years' experience as an auction house specialist, appraiser and dealer in Japanese and Korean Art, he has served as head of the Japanese and Korean art division at Christie's New York, curated shows for the Ukiyo-e Society of America and the Japan Society, and received the Uchiyama Memorial Prize for advances in Japanese print studies. He currently lives in New York.