October 12, 1858

"Ukiyo-e" is a Japanese term for what they called “pictures of the floating world.” The prints were produced with a colour woodblock process. The artists at this era were not valued for their talent, although their products were popular. "As is customary with artists of the plebeian ukiyo-e school, early biographical material ...[was not conserved since the artists] were considered to be only artisans by the Japanese society of the time."

Andō Hiroshige (1797 to October 12, 1858) is revered today for his "ukiyo-e". His Britannica article says he was one of the last masters of this craft. Quoting this source we learn:


Hiroshige’s artistic life may be characterized in several stages. The first was his student period, from about 1811 to 1830, when he largely followed the work of his elders in the field of figure prints—girls, actors, and samurai, or warriors. The second was his first landscape period, from 1830 to about 1844, when he created his own romantic ideal of landscape design and bird-and-flower prints and brought them to full fruition with his famed Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō and other series of prints depicting landscape vistas in Japan. His last stage was his later period of landscape and figure-with-landscape designs, from 1844 to 1858, during which overpopularity and overproduction tended to diminish the quality of his work.

[His middle period I think:]

His genius for landscape compositions was first recognized in the West by the Impressionists ....

Hiroshige was born and died in Edo (Tokyo). He
... was fond of travel, loved wine and good food, and in his other tastes was a true citizen of Edo. He died in the midst of a cholera epidemic.

And here is another example of his work: