CATALOGUE OF THE EXHIBITION - ITEMS 266 TO 284
Titles with the mark denote titles of the series while the mark denotes the sub-title. Those titles without any mark are the additions
of the compiler of the catalogue.
The Woodblock Prints of Utagawa Hiroshige
Watanabe: Catalogue of the Memorial Exhibition
CATALOGUE OF THE EXHIBITION - ITEMS 266 TO 284
Titles with the mark denote titles of the series while the mark denotes the sub-title. Those titles without any mark are the additions
of the compiler of the catalogue.
SHASEIGA (Sketches), SHITAZU (Rough Sketches), HANSHITA (Block Copies), KYŌGŌZURI (Proof Sheets), HANGI (Wood Blocks).
These things are necessary for making prints. To state in brief the manner in which prints were produced in the days of Hiroshige, the artist draws a rough sketch of a picture. After finishing it, he consults a publisher regarding the form of issue. When this is decided, the artist makes a finished design without colour on a regular size sheet of thin paper and sends it to a wood engraver. The picture which is thus ready to be transferred to the wood block is called Hanshita-ye or block copy. Prints of this copy are called Kyōgōzuri or proof sheets. The number of these proof sheets struck off depends on the number of colours to be employed. These proofs are sent to the artist who paints one of them as a model from which to produce the finished print. He also colours in red a part or parts to be coloured on the rest of the sheets. All are then sent to a wood engraver together with the model. The blocks engraved according to these red coloured sheets are called colour blocks. (Block copy and trial proof are both produced on Usumino (thin paper). These blocks are then given to a printer who prints a trial sheet in accordance with the model and shows it to the artist. When this is approved, a set of 200 sheets of pictures is printed and sent to a publisher. It will thus be seen what an elaborate process must be gone through before the finished colour prints are supplied to the public.