Perseverance Pays Off! 100 Famous Views of Edo.

by guest blogger, Elmer Prather

If you follow our blog, then you know that Mr. Prather enjoys rich history and he has to have some connection to the puzzles that he chooses to assemble. He's very generous with sharing his life experiences with us when a puzzle image stirs up a memory. His latest puzzle did not get assembled with ease. As you can imagine, 2000 pieces is a challenge when one mainly does 1000 pieces - that's double the pieces and they're even smaller, which means one gets less of the image per piece. Mr. Prather had communicated with us a few times about the challenges with this puzzle and we understood completely. He even put the puzzle away for some time to work on other things. It seems that little break did wonders because he told us he was starting it up again and next thing we know, it's complete!! We were so proud of his efforts and how much he persevered to get this one done. He knew it was a beautiful puzzle and we think he was motivated to see it fully assembled. We're very excited that he is able to share his finished puzzle with us and in his usual fashion, he did some research so that he could share some history behind this beautiful puzzle. Please enjoy his story ... 

This is the 57th Cobble Hill puzzle I have had the pleasure of putting together. It is a 2000-piece puzzle titled 100 Famous Views of Edo. I must have a connection with a puzzle before I spend the time putting it together and my connection to this puzzle is my love for beautiful Japanese artwork. When I first saw a picture of the puzzle, I was drawn to the beautiful woodblock prints displayed in the puzzle.

Mr. Prather's assembled 100 Famous Views of Edo 2000pc puzzle!

Woodblock prints such as the ones depicted in the puzzle were produced in large numbers in 18th and 19th century Japan by artists, block cutters and printers working independently via the instructions of specialist publishers. Woodblock prints are made by artisans using chisels and carving knives to gouge the fine details into the woodblock. After the design was engraved in the wood and the inks or dyes are added, the image would be transferred onto a paper or textile surface. Woodblock prints such as these were called ukiyo-e, which means 'pictures of the floating world'. This world was one of transient delights and changing fashions centered on the licensed pleasure districts and popular theatres found in major cities of Japan.

This series of woodblock prints, as created by Utagawa Hiroshige, born Ando Tokutaro, (1797-1858), does not consist of only these one hundred designs in the puzzle. It rather consists of 118 designs plus a title page. The designs represent the four seasons - spring, summer, autumn and winter. Some books and websites categorize the designs by these four seasons.

Edo was a city in Japan that existed from 1603 until 1868. The city of Edo was formed by Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty of Japan. The city formerly known as Edo is now Tokyo. Edo in English translates to bay entrance.

From the 1860s Japanese woodblock prints became a source of inspiration for many Western artists. One of the artisans influenced by this artwork was Vincent Van Gogh. Van Gogh possessed twelve prints from Hiroshige’s series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo. Van Gogh admired the techniques of Japanese artists, and these prints were influential to his artistic development. One or more of the following features can be found in several of Van Gogh’s paintings from his Antwerp period onward. Some of these features were their distinctive cropping of their compositions, bold assertive outlines, uniform color, and lighting along with their emphasis on decorative patterns.  

Cobble Hill's Van Gogh collage with a timeline - do you see the Japanese influence?

The 100 woodblock prints displayed in this puzzle are beautiful. They help tell the story of life in 1800s Edo.