Moon-Mad Monk

"Moon-Mad Monk," dated to 1789 and preserved in the Victoria and Albert Museum, is an early work by Kitagawa Utamaro that shows the breadth of his ukiyo-e subject matter before he committed himself almost exclusively to Edo bijin-ga. Eccentric religious figures, hermits, and tsuki-kichigai (moon-mad) recluses appear throughout the painting and printmaking tradition of Edo as representatives of unorthodox sensibility, blending Buddhist devotion with poetic transport. The conceit of being driven into ecstasy by the moon belonged to a venerable East Asian literary culture admired by the kyoka poets and waka enthusiasts who patronized Utamaro through his publisher Tsutaya Juzaburo. The 1780s were the period in which Utamaro was establishing his independent voice, moving past the influences of Sekien and Kiyonaga toward the distinctive elegance of his later style. The monk's distinctive posture and the spareness of his setting suggest the inheritance of haiga ink-painting traditions absorbed into woodblock prints. While the V&A's London collection of ukiyo-e was assembled across many decades, this print stands among its valuable witnesses to Utamaro's range. Reading it alongside his celebrated bijin reminds us that the artist who would become synonymous with Yoshiwara beauties was at home with monks, gods, animals, and seasonal flora.