Puzzle 500 Piece - Utagawa Hiroshige - Cat Sitting in Window

"Cat Watching the Torinomachi Festival" - Hiroshige

 Part of the "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo" series, the painting shows  Mt. Fuji in the distance.  

Utagawa Hiroshige or  Andō Hiroshige (1797-1858)

Hiroshige was considered the last great  master of the Japanese ukiyo-e art tradition.

Subtle use of color was essential in Hiroshige's prints, often printed with multiple impressions in the same area and with extensive use of bokasi (color gradation), both of which were rather labor-intensive techniques. 

The subjects of his work were atypical of the ukiyo-e genre, whose typical focus was on beautiful women, popular actors, and other scenes of the urban pleasure districts of Japan's Edo period (1603–1868).

The popular series Thirty-six views of Mt Fuji, by Hokusai was a strong influence on Hiroshige's choice of subject.

Hiroshige's approach was more poetic and ambient than Hokusai's bolder, more formal prints.