Making Pictures of Places You’ve Never Seen

I’m a little obsessed with foreign artists’ depictions of America, mostly because the depiction of fashion and architecture is so detailed and careful in a way that Americans would often gloss over. This is Utagawa Yoshitora’s “America,” from 1857 (it’s in the Met). There’s a nice series here, collected by the amazing fashion enthusiast Mademoiselle Iona, which also includes Yoshitora’s portrait of Washington, also from the Met.

Yoshitora actually never came to America, or Europe for that matter, and depended upon prints making their way to Japan. That’s why his version of London seems a little wacky.