Kobayashi Kiyochika

Kobayashi Kiyochika (小林 清親, 10 September 1847 – 28 November 1915) ;was a Japanese artist, best known for his colour woodblock prints and newspaper illustrations. His work documents the rapid modernization and Westernization Japan underwent during the Meiji period (1868–1912).

Beginning in 1876, Kiyochika embarked on an unfinished series of ninety-three views of the new capital city that now stands as his main claim to fame in modern Japanese art. Titled Famous Places of Tokyo (Tokyo Meisho-zu), his obvious inspiration was Andō Hiroshige’s 100 Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo Hyakkei), which Hiroshige began serializing in 1856, when Kiyochika was a youngster, and continued until his death in 1858. (Publication was completed in 1859.) This immensely popular series went through many printings, and eventually became known and admired by Western artists such as Vincent Van Gogh.