In the first article of this series, I showed how reluctant European and American painters were to depict rainfall as oblique streaks down an image. There was no such reluctance among Japanese print makers like Utagawa Hiroshige, though.

Utagawa Hiroshige (歌川広重) (1797–1858), Evening Shower at Nihonbashi Bridge (Edo, 1830-4), woodblock print, 26.2 × 38.7 cm, Brooklyn Museum, New York, NY. Wikimedia Commons.

These two woodblock prints by Hiroshige show how effective liberal use of rain streaks can be.

Utagawa Hiroshige (歌川広重) (1797–1858), Evening Rain at Azumi-no Mori (吾嬬杜夜雨) (Edo, 1837-8), woodblock print. Wikimedia Commons.

Among the European painters who saw and were inspired by Hiroshige’s Evening Rain at Azumi-no Mori was Vincent van Gogh.

Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), Rain – Auvers (1890), oil on canvas, 50.3 x 100.2 cm, National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, Wales. Wikimedia Commons.

Painted just a few days before his death, van Gogh’s Rain – Auvers