# Sudden Shower over Shin-Ohashi Bridge and Atake

> Utagawa Hiroshige - 1857
> Canonical HTML: https://iconotheca.com/artworks/utagawa-hiroshige/hiroshige-sudden-shower-shin-ohashi-loc/
> Published by Servola Systems GmbH. Last verified: 2026-08-30

## Tombstone

- **Artist:** Utagawa Hiroshige
- **Date:** 1857
- **Medium:** Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper, printed with bokashi (hand-graded) shading
- **Dimensions:** 36.3 x 24.1 cm (sheet, this impression, per the Library of Congress catalog record). Other surviving impressions are recorded at slightly different sheet sizes because of trimming: 35.3 x 23.2 cm at the Cleveland Museum of Art and approximately 36 x 23.2 cm at the Brooklyn Museum.
- **Object type:** Print
- **Period:** Japanese, Edo period, Ansei era (1854-1860)
- **Current location:** Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C.
- **Attribution:** accepted

## Summary

A woodblock sheet of 1857, no. 52 (or, depending on the institution, no. 53 or no. 58) in Hiroshige's series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, showing pedestrians caught by a downpour on the Shin-Ohashi bridge over the Sumida River. This particular impression is held by the Library of Congress, catalogued within the Donald D. Walker collection of Japanese prints and digitized in 2005-06 with support from Japan's Nichibunken research institute. It is not the impression owned by the Van Gogh Museum, and it is not the impression Vincent van Gogh copied in oil in 1887; those are a separate, museum-accessioned sheet and a separate painting, both in Amsterdam.The print is built from two difficult technical achievements: a field of fine parallel lines standing for driving rain, cut into the woodblock rather than added by hand, and a hand-wiped bokashi gradation that darkens the sky into a bruised, rolling cloud bank. Surviving impressions vary in state, from an early printing showing two boats on the river to later, corrected printings; this record cannot establish which state the Library of Congress sheet represents.Its fame rests on two separate facts that are often run together: it is widely called the masterpiece of its series and one of the most reproduced Japanese prints in the West, and it was the specific composition Van Gogh chose to copy in oil in the autumn of 1887 as part of a documented, catalogued engagement with Hiroshige that ran to at least 78 prints in his own collection.

## Provenance

Every link carries a grade. `documented` means a cited source supports it, `disputed` means the identification is argued but not established, `unknown` means we have no owner for that span and have not bridged it.

- **1857** Published by Uoya Eikichi, designed by Utagawa Hiroshige `[documented]` (publication)
  Issued in 1857 as one sheet of the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo Hyakkei), a project of 118 numbered views plus a title page, published serially between 1856 and 1858-59 and completed after Hiroshige's death by his successor Hiroshige II.
- **1857** Unknown `[unknown]` (gap)
  No individual chain of ownership is documented for this specific sheet between its 1857 publication and its appearance in the Library of Congress's holdings. Hiroshige's designs were printed and sold in large numbers and reached Western collections in quantity after Japan's ports opened in the 1850s, but that general trade history is not evidence for this sheet's own path. No dealer, collector, or intermediate owner is named for it in the sources consulted.
- **undated** Donald D. Walker collection of visual materials `[documented]` (collection formation)
  The Library of Congress's own catalog record states this impression forms part of visual materials from the Donald D. Walker collection. This is a named grouping distinct from the Library's much larger Crosby Stuart Noyes ukiyo-e collection (about 1,300 prints, drawings and illustrated books, assembled by the Washington Evening Star editor and owner of that name). No biographical information about Walker and no date for when his collection entered the Library appear in the record consulted.
- **-present** Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. `[documented]` (current holding)
  Catalogued as LCCN 2009631889, Digital ID jpd.02950, Reproduction Number LC-DIG-jpd-02950, Call Number FP 2 - JPD, no. 1300, p. 33 (AA size). Descriptive cataloguing (title, subject headings, translated title) was compiled by Nichibunken-sponsored Edo-print specialists in 2005-06, part of a program in which Nichibunken (the International Research Center for Japanese Studies) funded scanning of 1,100 of the Library's ukiyo-e prints. Access to the original is restricted because the sheet is extremely fragile; researchers are directed to the digital image, which is the source of the Wikimedia Commons file used in this record.

## Auction results

Hammer and buyer's premium are stated separately. Where a source conflates them this record says so.

- **2023-09-06** Sotheby's, London, 
  - Estimate: GBP 30,000 - 50,000
  - Hammer: GBP 230,000
  - With premium: GBP 292,100 with buyer's premium
  - This is NOT the Library of Congress impression described in this record; it is a separate impression of the same print, offered as lot 13 in Freddie Mercury: A World of His Own - The Evening Sale. Provenance given at sale: from the collection of the musician Freddie Mercury (1946-1991), who wanted an impression from a 1977 Sotheby's sale that was withdrawn; his friend Mary Austin subsequently sourced this impression in Japan, and it became, in Sotheby's words, the highlight of Mercury's collection of woodblock prints. Recorded here to establish the market range for impressions of this print in the current trade; it has no bearing on the Library of Congress sheet's own history.
- **2026-09-15** Christie's, New York, Hiroshige: Colors of the Four Seasons | The Alan Medaugh Collection, sale 25167 (sale id 31492), Rockefeller Center, live, 15 September 2026, lot 16
  - Estimate: USD 50,000 - 100,000
  - Hammer: USD 260,000 DERIVED, not published. Derived from 332,800 under the buyer's premium schedule in the Conditions of Sale the lot page links (LiveConditionsOfSale-NewYork-01Sept26.pdf): 28 per cent of hammer up to and including USD 2,000,000. 332,800 / 1.28 = 260,000, a round bidding figure. Label stays DERIVED.
  - With premium: USD 332,800 premium-inclusive, as printed on the house lot page ('Price realised USD 332,800') and carried in the sale's lot-search JSON (price_realised 332800). Read 2026-09-16 with the sale closed: is_auction_over true, 181 of 181 lots priced, sale total USD 6,991,616 on the house's results calendar, which is the sum of the 181 lot figures to the dollar.
  - This is NOT the Library of Congress impression described in this record; it is a separate impression of the same print. Catalogued by the house as: woodblock print from Meisho Edo hyakkei, signed Hiroshige ga, published by Uoya Eikichi, 9th month 1857, vertical oban 35.9 x 23.5 cm. Provenance as printed: Irma Grabhorn-Engel (1906-2003); Israel Goldman Japanese Prints, London; acquired from the above 2005 (by Alan Medaugh). Literature as printed: Van Gogh and Japan (Mercatorfonds, Van Gogh Museum, 2018), fig. 27; Hiroshige Nature and the City: Prints from the Alan Medaugh Collection (Ludion, 2023), plate 122A. Exhibited: Van Gogh and Japan, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, 23 March-24 June 2018; World Debut Exhibition of the Irma Grabhorn-Engel Collection, Japan, October 1995-January 1996. The house's lot essay states that this impression, 'depicting two boats in the right background, is believed to be the first impression of the work' - that is the house's claim, recorded as such and not adopted. Top of the first 134 lots was lot 5, Kameido ume yashiki, USD 358,400; this lot was third in the sale. Lot page read 2026-09-16 at rung 1, HTTP 200, in full; lot-search JSON read the same day; the two agree.
- **2026-09-16** Bonhams, New York, Fine Japanese & Korean Art, sale 31888, New York, 16 September 2026, 10:00 EDT, section 'A Private Collection of Japanese Prints', lot 816
  - Estimate: USD 12,000 - 20,000
  - Hammer: USD 19,000, read from the house's own page data (dHammerPrice 19000), not derived. Bonhams embeds hammer per lot; the visible copy prints only the total. Check: 28 per cent on the first USD 50,000 of hammer, the schedule printed on the lot page, gives 19,000 x 1.28 = 24,320 exactly.
  - With premium: USD 24,320 premium-inclusive, printed on the lot page as 'Sold for US$24,320 inc. premium' and carried in the page data as dHammerPremium 24320. Read 2026-09-16 at about 19:00 UTC while the sale was still running (lots 801-1088; at capture 145 sold, 12 bought in, 2 withdrawn, 129 not yet offered), so the sale-level figures are provisional and this lot's figure is final.
  - This is NOT the Library of Congress impression described in this record; it is a separate impression of the same print, sold the day after the Christie's impression above. Catalogued by the house as: oban tate-e, Ohashi Atake no yudachi from Meisho Edo hyakkei, signed Hiroshige ga, published by Uoya Eikichi, 36.2 x 23.8 cm. Provenance as printed: 'Previously sold at Christie's, Hong Kong, November 25, 2018, lot 493.' Two neighbouring lots from the same consignment sold in the same session: lot 818, Kameido umeyashiki, hammer USD 85,000, total USD 108,450 (estimate 75,000-95,000); lot 820, Hokusai, Gaifu kaisei ('Red Fuji'), hammer USD 190,000, total USD 241,800 (estimate 150,000-250,000). Lot page read 2026-09-16 at rung 1, HTTP 200, in full; sale listing pages read the same day; the two agree.

## Open questions

- Which print state does the Library of Congress impression represent: the early 'Two Boats' state described by specialist dealers, or one of the later standard or deluxe states with the corrected grey-block piling repair? This record's own examination of the digitization shows a single boatman, which argues against the earliest state, but a full determination requires physical or close photographic examination against published connoisseurship criteria that was not available for this record.
- Why does this print carry different sequence numbers across institutions (no. 52 at the Library of Congress, series ordinal 53 in Wikidata's structured data, no. 58 at the Brooklyn Museum and the Art Institute of Chicago)? No source consulted explains the discrepancy or identifies which numbering, if any, reflects the original 1857 publication sequence.
- When and from whom did the Library of Congress acquire this specific impression? The catalog record places it within 'the Donald D. Walker collection of visual materials' but gives no acquisition date and no biographical information about Walker.
- What was the original print run for this specific plate? General statements that Hiroshige's designs were printed in large numbers are not sheet-specific, and no source consulted gives a print-run figure for this design.
- Does the change from two boats to a single raftsman across print states carry any documented meaning, or is it purely a production correction with no further significance? Not addressed in the literature consulted.
- What value, if any, was placed on this specific sheet before it entered the Library of Congress's collection? No purchase price, gift valuation, or insurance figure for this individual impression appears in the sources reviewed.

## Sources

- [1] Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, catalog record for Ohashi atake no yudachi / Sudden shower over Shin-Ohashi bridge and Atake (LCCN 2009631889, Digital ID jpd.02950). The live loc.gov page returns HTTP 403 to automated retrieval; accessed via the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine copy. <https://web.archive.org/web/20250510081359/https://www.loc.gov/item/2009631889/>
- [2] Library of Congress, About this Collection: Fine Prints, Japanese, pre-1915. Accessed via the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine copy for the same access reason as source 1. <https://web.archive.org/web/20260722093917/https://www.loc.gov/collections/japanese-fine-prints-pre-1915/about-this-collection/>
- [3] Wikimedia Commons, File:Hiroshige, Sudden shower over Shin-Ohashi bridge and Atake, 1857.jpg, including extmetadata (license, credit, description) via the Commons API. <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hiroshige,_Sudden_shower_over_Shin-%C5%8Chashi_bridge_and_Atake,_1857.jpg>
- [4] Wikimedia Commons, File:Ohashi Atake no yudachi ... MET DP123602.jpg, CC0, credited as donated by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, via the Commons API. <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%C5%8Chashi_Atake_no_y%C5%ABdachi-%E5%90%8D%E6%89%80%E6%B1%9F%E6%88%B8%E7%99%BE%E6%99%AF_%E5%A4%A7%E3%81%AF%E3%81%97%E3%81%82%E3%81%9F%E3%81%91%E3%81%AE%E5%A4%95%E7%AB%8B-Sudden_Shower_over_Shin-%C5%8Chashi_Bridge_and_Atake_(%C5%8Chashi_Atake_no_y%C5%ABdachi),_from_the_series_One_Hundred_Famous_Views_of_Edo_(Meisho_Edo_hyakkei)_MET_DP123602.jpg>
- [5] Wikimedia Commons, File:Sudden Shower over Shin-Ohashi Bridge and Atake (5758870781).jpg, public domain, credited to the San Diego Museum of Art via Flickr Commons, accession 1957.247. <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sudden_Shower_over_Shin-Ohashi_Bridge_and_Atake_(5758870781).jpg>
- [6] Wikimedia Commons, File:Vincent van Gogh - Brug in de regen- naar Hiroshige - Google Art Project.jpg, public domain. <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vincent_van_Gogh_-_Brug_in_de_regen-_naar_Hiroshige_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg>
- [7] Brooklyn Museum, Sudden Shower Over Shin-Ohashi Bridge and Atake (Ohashi Atake no Yudachi), No. 58 from One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, accession 30.1478.58, Gift of Anna Ferris. <https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/47571>
- [8] Cleveland Museum of Art, Sudden Shower over Shin-Ohashi Bridge and Atake, from One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, accession 1921.318, Gift of J. H. Wade. <https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1921.318>
- [9] Scholten Japanese Art, Dark and Stormy (dealer note on print states of Sudden Shower at Atake - Ohashi Bridge: the early 'Two Boats' state, the grey-block repair to the piling, and standard versus deluxe later impressions). <https://www.scholten-japanese-art.com/darkandstormy_07.php>
- [10] Sotheby's, Freddie Mercury: A World of His Own - The Evening Sale (2023), lot 13, Utagawa Hiroshige, Sudden Shower over Shin-Ohashi Bridge and Atake. <https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2023/freddie-mercury-a-world-of-his-own-the-evening-sale/sudden-shower-over-shin-ohashi-bridge-and-atake>
- [11] The Art Newspaper, 'They want it all: Freddie Mercury collection smashes expectations at Sotheby's' (7 September 2023), for the hammer price and premium on the Hiroshige lot and the sale's overall total. <https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/09/07/they-want-it-all-freddie-mercury-collection-smashes-expectations-at-sothebys>
- [12] The Art Newspaper, 'Van Gogh's love of Hiroshige, the Japanese master of the landscape' (1 August 2025), on Van Gogh's documented collection of at least 78 Hiroshige prints, his purchases from Siegfried Bing in Paris, and the British Museum's 2025 exhibition Hiroshige: Artist of the Open Road. <https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/08/01/van-goghs-love-of-hiroshige-the-japanese-master-of-the-landscape>
- [13] Wikipedia, 'One Hundred Famous Views of Edo'. Tertiary source, used for the series' structure (118 numbered views across four seasonal groups plus a title page, published 1856-1859, completed after Hiroshige's death by Hiroshige II). Flagged for replacement with Matthi Forrer's or Henry Smith's scholarly catalogues of the series. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Hundred_Famous_Views_of_Edo>
- [14] Wikipedia, 'Sudden Shower over Shin-Ohashi Bridge and Atake'. Tertiary source, used for the list of Western artists (Whistler, Buhot, Lepere) discussed as responding to the bridge-in-rain composition, and for the Laura Cumming citation. Flagged for replacement with a peer-reviewed Japonisme study. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudden_Shower_over_Shin-%C5%8Chashi_Bridge_and_Atake>
- [15] Wikipedia, 'Hiroshige'. Tertiary source, used for biographical facts: birth name Ando Tokutaro, samurai fire-warden family, training under Utagawa Toyohiro, career shift to landscape prints, death during the 1858 cholera epidemic, succession by Hiroshige II, and the death poem. Flagged for replacement with a scholarly biography such as Forrer's. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroshige>
- [16] Ota Memorial Museum of Art (Otakinen Museum), 'Did Utagawa Hiroshige die of an infectious disease?', on the 1858 Edo cholera epidemic and the uncertain evidence for whether it caused Hiroshige's death. <https://otakinen-museum.note.jp/n/ne26ca494eaae?hl=en&gs=1a3e696c320e>
- [17] Artelino, 'Aizuri-e Japanese Woodblock Prints and Prussian Blue', on the introduction and adoption of imported Prussian blue (bero-ai) pigment in Edo-period woodblock printing. <https://www.artelino.com/articles/aizuri-e.asp>
- [18] National Museum of Asian Art (Smithsonian), 'Friday Fave: Hiroshige's Sudden Shower', noting the Freer Gallery's own impression (F1994.29, gift of Alan, Donald and David Winslow from the estate of William R. Castle) as a further, separately provenanced example of the print. <https://asia-archive.si.edu/friday-fave-hiroshiges-sudden-shower>
- [19] Christie's, 'Lot 16, Utagawa Hiroshige, Ohashi Atake no yudachi - Hiroshige: Colors of the Four Seasons, The Alan Medaugh Collection, sale 25167, 15 September 2026'. Sale, lot, estimate, premium-inclusive price USD 332,800, dimensions, the Grabhorn-Engel to Goldman to Medaugh provenance, literature, exhibitions and the house's first-impression claim. Accessed 2026-09-16. <https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6599690>
- [20] christies.com, web page cited for the Christie's, New York sale of 2026-09-15. <https://www.christies.com/en/auction/hiroshige-colors-of-the-four-seasons-the-alan-medaugh-collection-31492/>
- [21] Christie's, 'Live Conditions of Sale, New York, 1 September 2026'. The 28 per cent buyer's premium behind the DERIVED hammer of USD 260,000. Accessed 2026-09-16. <https://www.christies.com/pdf/Live/LiveConditionsOfSale-NewYork-01Sept26.pdf>
- [22] Bonhams, 'Lot 816, Utagawa Hiroshige, Ohashi Atake no yudachi - Fine Japanese & Korean Art, sale 31888, 16 September 2026'. Sale, lot, estimate, 'Sold for US$24,320 inc. premium', the hammer of USD 19,000 in the page data, dimensions and the Christie's Hong Kong 2018 provenance line. Accessed 2026-09-16. <https://www.bonhams.com/auction/31888/lot/816/utagawa-hiroshige-1797-1858-edo-period-1615-1868-1857/>
- [23] bonhams.com, web page cited for the Bonhams, New York sale of 2026-09-16. <https://www.bonhams.com/auction/31888/fine-japanese-and-korean-art/>

---

Images on this record are public domain or CC0 and are hosted by us. No image on this site is generated or simulated. If you quote this record, quote the provenance grades with it.