This lecture provides a short introduction to art of Utagawa Hiroshige, focusing on his innovative landscapes, use of colour and space. In the first part, we will situate him in his time and place of early 19th century Edo Japan, exploring how and why he synthesised Japanese, Chinese and Western compositional techniques. Then, we look at Hiroshige’s unprecedented influence on Western painting, printmaking and architecture by examining some of the artists inspired by him. These include Vincent van Gogh, James Abbott McNeill Whistler and Frank Lloyd Wright. The hope is to give this artist, who is often overshadowed in popular art history by his contemporary Hokusai, the attention he deserves.
Sarah Jaffry is an art historian, educator, curator and writer based in London.
Before her current position as head of art history at City Lit, London's largest adult education college, Sarah was a curator in the Department of Prints and Drawings at the British Museum. For six years, she was the lead educator for the Bridget Riley Art Foundation and has also worked at Wellcome Collection exploring the connections of art, medicine and human experience. Prior to relocating to London for family, she was as a tenured professor of Art History based in Los Angeles. Sarah has been an art history lecturer since 2003.
Her first MA in Art History focused on the links between poetry and painting in late 19th century France while her second MA in Cultural Studies focused on photography and political protest.
Sarah lectures on a variety of topics and prefers to place artworks and objects in their wider social and cultural contexts, from the European Renaissance to the contemporary, emphasising new narratives and approaches to Western Art History. Her art historical research emphasises modern art, the politics and philosophies of the 19th and 20th centuries and how they are related to artistic process: drawing, printmaking, painting and photography.