Fujiwara no Yasumasa Playing the Flute by Moonlight (Fujiwara no Yasumasa gekka roteki zu)
Artist
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi 月岡 芳年
(Japanese, 1839–1892)
Datelate autumn, 1882
Mediumhanging scroll; ink, color, lacquer, silver and gold on silk
Dimensionsoverall: 222.3 x 95.9 cm (87 1/2 x 37 3/4 in.); image: 142.4 x 78.6 cm (56 1/16 x 30 15/16 in.)
ClassificationsPaintings
Credit LineStoddard Acquisition Fund
Object number2004.46
DescriptionCreated in 1882 for a government-sponsored national painting exhibition for the promotion of Japanese art, this work would come to represent Yoshitoshi’s artistry as a whole. The use of expensive mineral pigments, gold paint, and applied lacquer reflect the prestigious circumstances of the painting’s commission. Its combination of traditional aspects of East Asian ink painting with techniques of Western pictorialism, such as chiaroscuro and foreshortening, reflect new paradigms of picture-making introduced to modern Japan. An inscription inside the box lid confirms that the painting was once owned by Yoshitoshi's friend Ichikawa Danjūrō IX, a leading kabuki actor who sought Yoshitoshi’s advice in stage design and costume decoration. Danjūrō recreated this scene in a play from 1883, playing the part of Yasumasa himself.Label TextCreated in 1882 for a government-sponsored national painting exhibition for the promotion of Japanese art, this work would come to represent Yoshitoshi’s artistry as a whole. The use of expensive mineral pigments, gold paint, and applied lacquer reflect the prestigious circumstances of the painting’s commission. Its combination of traditional aspects of East Asian ink painting with techniques of Western pictorialism, such as chiaroscuro and foreshortening, reflect new paradigms of picture-making introduced to modern Japan. An inscription inside the box lid confirms that the painting was once owned by Yoshitoshi's friend Ichikawa Danjūrō IX, a leading kabuki actor who sought Yoshitoshi’s advice in stage design and costume decoration. Danjūrō recreated this scene in a play from 1883, playing the part of Yasumasa himself.ProvenanceIchikawa Danjuro IX, Tokyo
On View
Not on view
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi 月岡 芳年
September 1885
