While we have featured work by Utagawa Hiroshige before, we include this work of his to remember that Ukiyo-e was not a fine art form but a popular art form in the Edo period. This fan print by Hiroshige refers to the ephemeral nature of mass media. The summer fan was intended for use for one season and then discarded. Hiroshige references this in his depiction of Morning-Glories which wilt and fade soon after flowering. The grasshopper also has a brief life-span. Intended for consumption, such prints now feature in collections and museums or are re-carved and printed in the Ukiyo-e style as collector’s items. As such, Hiroshige’s morning-glories flower way beyond their intended lifespan and the grasshopper lives across centuries.
Artist: Utagawa Hiroshige.
Title: Enumeration of Flowers in the Four Seasons: Morning-Glories. (Shiki no hana zukushi)
Published by Ibaya Senzaburo (Dansendo)
Edo period 1843–47