Biographies

Ando Hiroshige (1797 – 1858) He was born in Edo (now Tokyo) and at first, like his father, was a fire warden. The prints of Hokusai are said to have inspired his desire to become an artist. He entered the studio of Utagawa Toyohiro as an apprentice, completing his studies in 1812, after which he quickly gained renowned as a maker of prints, especially landscapes from the road between Edo and Kyoto. Some critics have felt that his later works suffered from an attempt to appeal to popular taste, but the works of his early and middle periods are considered to be of very high quality. He was admired by a number of modernist artists.