# Hiroshige Ando artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/hiroshige-ando/
Profile generated: 2026-05-11T02:47:28.592Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Death date: 1858-10-12
- Nationality: Japanese
- Movements: Ukiyo-e
- Common media: Woodblock prints (ukiyo-e), Painting, Illustrated books

## About Hiroshige Ando

Utagawa Hiroshige, born Andō Tokitarō in Edo (modern Tokyo) in 1797, was a Japanese ukiyo-e master renowned for his landscape woodblock prints. Working within the ukiyo-e tradition — literally 'pictures of the floating world' — Hiroshige produced thousands of designs capturing scenic travel routes, famous landmarks, and seasonal transformations across Japan. His innovative vertical compositions, subtle color gradations, and atmospheric depictions of weather and light distinguished his work from earlier ukiyo-e masters who focused primarily on figures and theater subjects. Hiroshige's prints reached European audiences in the late nineteenth century and profoundly influenced Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painters, including Monet and Van Gogh. He remained active until his death in 1858, leaving behind a body of work that defines the late-Edo landscape print tradition. Collectors today frequently encounter his designs at auction, in gallery inventories, and in museum collections worldwide.

## Common works and media

Hiroshige worked primarily in the woodblock print format, producing ōban-size horizontal and vertical landscape prints, triptychs, and illustrated books. Common subjects include travel stations along the Tōkaidō and other highways, famous views of Edo, seasonal landscapes, and bird-and-flower (kachō-e) compositions. Collectors may also encounter later printed editions, re-carved blocks, posthumous reproductions, and modern facsimiles of his iconic designs.

## Market and appraisal context

Hiroshige woodblock prints appear regularly in Japanese and Asian art sales at major auction houses. Valuation depends heavily on whether a print is an original lifetime impression versus a later reprint or reproduction, the specific series and design rarity, condition of the paper and colors, and documented provenance. Publisher seals, censor marks, and carver signatures on early impressions help establish authenticity. Collectors should be cautious, as Hiroshige's popularity has generated centuries of restrikes and facsimile editions that trade at a fraction of original-impression values. Professional appraisal is recommended when attribution or impression quality is uncertain.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine artist identity research from authority files and institutional sources with auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. For this artist, identity data draws on Getty ULAN, VIAF, the Library of Congress Name Authority File, Wikidata, and the RKD (Netherlands Institute for Art History).

## Sources

- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q200798
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500019641
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/19678928/
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/95801906/
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n50044379
- RKD (Netherlands Institute for Art History): https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/259925