Moon on Musashi Plain

Medium:: Woodblock print
Source:: Robyn Buntin of Honolulu
Image courtesy of: Robyn Buntin of Honolulu

Description

A second distinct treatment of the Musashino moonlight theme, this print likely differs from related versions in compositional framing, season, or printing palette. Kiyochika's multiple approaches to the same subject reflect both the subject's commercial viability and his interest in working through variations on a light problem—analogous to how Western plein-air painters returned repeatedly to identical motifs under different conditions. The print would demonstrate his mastery of nocturnal bokashi, achieving the soft-edged luminescence of moonlight through pigment applied to dampened washi and pressed with a baren before the paper fully dried. Subtle variations in cloud density, atmospheric haze, or the position of the moon within the composition would distinguish this version from its companions within his Musashino series.