"Women Conversing" by Ando Hiroshugi (1779-1858)
Japanese woodblock print, gold frame
from Serge Liros's private collection newly on the market after 45 years
Image size: 8 3/4 x 13 3/4 inches
Framed size: 16 5/8 x 21 1/4 inches
Artist Information:
Hiroshige, in full Andō Hiroshige, professional names Utagawa Hiroshige and Ichiyūsai Hiroshige, original name Andō Tokutarō, (born 1797, Edo [now Tokyo], Japan—died October 12, 1858, Edo), Japanese artist, one of the last great ukiyo-e (“pictures of the floating world”) masters of the colour woodblock print. His genius for landscape compositions was first recognized in the West by the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists. His print series Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō (1833–34) is perhaps his finest achievement.....
It has been estimated that Hiroshige created more than 5,000 prints and that as many as 10,000 copies were made from some of his woodblocks. Hokusai, Hiroshige’s early contemporary, was the innovator of the pure landscape print. Hiroshige, who followed him, was a less-striking artistic personality but frequently achieved equivalent masterpieces in his own calm manner. Possessing the ability to reduce the pictured scene to a few simple, highly decorative elements, Hiroshige captured the very essence of what he saw and turned it into a highly effective composition. There was in his work a human touch that no artist of the school had heretofore achieved; his pictures revealed a beauty that seemed somehow tangible and intimate. Snow, rain, mist, and moonlight scenes compose some of his most poetic masterpieces.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hiroshige