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Utagawa Toyohiro died in 1828. Rather than take over the master's atelier, and take on the name Toyohiro II, Hiroshige broke away and began devoting his attention to landscapes and nature studies.

Utagawa Toyohiro died in 1828. Rather than take over the master's atelier, and take on the name Toyohiro II, Hiroshige broke away and began devoting his attention to landscapes and nature studies.

In the eighth month of 1832, Hiroshige began a journey to Kyoto, along the [[Tokaido|Tôkaidô]], during which he would create sketches which would later become his ''Fifty-Three Stations'' prints series. He made this journey as an official painter for a shogunate mission to Kyoto, and was charged with recording various ceremonies and other events associated with the mission. The series was initially released as individual prints, one at a time, over the course of the weeks and months of 1833-1834, but once the last print in the series was released, all fifty-three came to be sold as a set. Over the course of his career, Hiroshige would go on to produce nearly two dozen other series of images of the Tôkaidô, probably at the urging of his publishers, along with many other series of ''meisho-e'', including "Eight Views of [[Omi province|Ômi]]" and images of famous sites in Kyoto. Hiroshige also produced a number of [[bird-and-flower painting|bird-and-flower prints]].

In the eighth month of 1832, Hiroshige began a journey to Kyoto, along the [[Tokaido|Tôkaidô]], during which he would create sketches which would later become his ''Fifty-Three Stations'' prints series. He made this journey as an official painter for a shogunate mission to Kyoto, and was charged with recording various ceremonies and other events associated with the mission. The series was initially released as individual prints, one at a time, over the course of the weeks and months of 1833-1834, but once the last print in the series was released, all fifty-three came to be sold as a set. Over the course of his career, Hiroshige would go on to produce nearly two dozen other series of images of the Tôkaidô, probably at the urging of his publishers, including one set co-designed with [[Utagawa Kunisada]]. He then also designed a popular series of the "Sixty-Nine Stations of the [[Kiso Kaido|Kiso Kaidô]]," as well as many other series of ''meisho-e'', including "Eight Views of [[Omi province|Ômi]]" and images of famous sites in Kyoto. Hiroshige also produced a number of [[bird-and-flower painting|bird-and-flower prints]].

For a time in the early 1840s, in response to shifts in demand spurred by the [[Tenpo Reforms|Tenpô Reforms]], Hiroshige returned to images of actors, warriors, beauties, and other figures, before returning once more to the production of landscapes. He was also commissioned around this time to produce a number of hanging scroll paintings.

For a time in the early 1840s, in response to shifts in demand spurred by the [[Tenpo Reforms|Tenpô Reforms]], Hiroshige returned to images of actors, warriors, beauties, and other figures, before returning once more to the production of landscapes. He was also commissioned around this time to produce a number of hanging scroll paintings.

Hiroshige died in 1858, possibly a victim of the cholera epidemic which swept through Edo at that time.

Hiroshige died in 1858, possibly a victim of the cholera epidemic which swept through Edo at that time. His last great series was "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo" (''Meisho Edo hyakkei''), published serially between [[1856]] and [[1859]].<ref>Christine Guth, ''Art of Edo Japan'', Yale University Press (1996), 117.</ref>

==References==

==References==