Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) | Moonlight on the Yodo River (Yodogawa) | Edo period, 19th century
Auction Closed
June 11, 03:42 PM GMT
Estimate
6,000 - 8,000 EUR
Lot Details
Description
woodblock print, from the series Snow, Moon and Flowers (Setsugekka), signed Saki no Hokusai Iitsu hitsu (Brush of Iitsu, the former Hokusai), censor’s seal kiwame (approved), circa 1833
Horizontal oban: 23.8 x 35.5 cm, 7¾ by 11¾ in.
From a set of Snow, Moon and Flowers (Setsugekka), a classical aesthetic concept drawn from Chinese and Japanese poetry, in which snow, moon, and flowers – most commonly the cherry blossom – represent the transient beauty of the natural world across the three seasons of winter, autumn, and spring respectively. In this ‘Moon’ instalment, boats are being towed along the Yodogawa River which flowed through the mercantile city of Osaka. The fortified walls of Osaka Castle loom dramatically over the waterway beneath the light of a full moon.
A similar impression of the same print is in the collection of the British Museum, museum number 1937,0710,0.174, go to:
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1937-0710-0-174
For a further impression in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (The MET), accession number JP1429, go to: