Amidst the Shadows: Landscapes by Kiyochika

The landscape prints of Kobayashi Kiyochika (1847-1915) reflect the dramatic changes in Japan’s technology and pictorial aesthetics in the years after 1854, when Commodore Matthew Perry of the US Navy forcefully opened the country’s ports to international trade. During the subsequent Meiji era (1868-1912), the importation of Western technology transformed the country’s landscape. Telegraph lines and poles added an unusual sense of urbanization to scenes that had been immortalized by previous artists such as Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) and Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858). The proliferation of artificial lighting from either gas or electricity, which results in much starker tonal contrasts than natural lighting, appears to have also led Kiyochika and other artists of his generation to depict figures in silhouette. 
 
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Kobayashi Kiyochika (1847–1915). Nightly View of Hiki-fune at Koume in Tokyo, Japan, 1876. Woodblock print; ink and color on paper. Gift of James A. Michener, 1991 (24501).