Woodblock print #88 from the series ‘One Hundred Aspects of the Moon’

Artist: Taiso Yoshitoshi 1839-1892
Date Published: 1890
Engraver: Yamamoto
Seal: Yoshitoshi

The scene: A peasant family (the woman is nursing a baby) relaxing at the end of a summers day. The title poem of the cartouche translates as:

"Pleasure is this
to lie cool under the moonflower bower
the man in his undershirt, the woman in her slip."

A simple and charming vignette of country life, the scene is also a reference to a famous 17th century painting by Kusumi Morikage that now hangs in the Tokyo National Museum. Casual and informal in nature, this print depicts the peasant class with sympathy and affection and acts as a foil to so many of the prints in this series which celebrate warriors, courtiers, and other elevated historical personages.

Impression: good
Colors: good
Condition: good, some staining to the lower left of the sheet, Meiji album backing

Unframed

Dimensions:
36.4 cm H x 24.6 cm W

Reference: ‘Yoshitoshi’s One Hundred Aspects of the Moon’ by John Stevenson