Eight views of Omi

Utagawa Hiroshige
Japan
1797 – 1858

Eight views of Omi
1856
woodblock print, ink and colour on paper, triptych
Place made
Edo (Tokyo)
Medium
woodblock print, ink and colour on paper, triptych
Dimensions
38.0 x 26.0 cm (sheet print 1)
34.5 x 24.5 cm (image)
38.0 x 26.0 cm (sheet print 2)
34.8 x 25.0 cm (image)
37.5 x 25.5 cm (sheet print 3)
35.0 x 25.0 cm (image)
Credit line
David Murray Bequest Fund 1942
Accession number
427G54
Signature and date
Signed l.l., in red cartouche, printed "広重" translates to "Utagawa Hiroshige". Not dated.
Provenance
Created by Utagawa Hiroshige, Edo, 1856; George Holman collection; purchased by the Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 1942.
Media category
Print
Collection area
Asian art - Japan

  • Omi province (present-day Shiga prefecture) was the old name for the area surrounding Lake Biwa, a short distance from Kyoto. The Eight views of Omi, here combined into one large image, was a favourite subject of Utagawa Hiroshige, who created more than fifteen series based on views of Omi province.

    The Eight views of Omi (sometimes referred to as The Eight views of Lake Biwa) were among the first and the greatest Japanese adaptation and morphing of the original 'Eight views of the Hsiao and Hsiang rivers', conceived in China in the eleventh century.  The 'Eight views' did not become a common subject for prints, however, until the early eighteenth century and in this series includes: Geese alighting on a sandy shore, Sales off distant shores, Mountain village in clearing mist.

    Russell Kelty, Curator of Asian Art



  • [Journal] Art Gallery of South Australia Newsletter.
    Art Gallery of South Australia Newsletter Vol. 6, no. 16 (Sept. 1985)-v. 6, no. 54 (Mar. 1989)