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Moon at Matsushima by Shiro Kasamatsu — Japanese Woodblock print

Moon at Matsushima

by Shiro Kasamatsu

Shin-hangaSōsaku-hanga
MoonlightNight Scenes
Matsushima
Medium:
Woodblock print
Format:
Oban
Edition:
Published by Watanabe Shozaburo

Typical Price

$1,000–$15,000. Snow and night scenes tend to command premium prices for this artist. Key value factors: Kasamatsu's early shin-hanga works (pre-1955) tend to be more valued than his later sosaku-hanga production.

Description

A full moon rises over the pine-island archipelago of Matsushima Bay, its reflection fragmenting across the water between the silhouetted islets. Matsushima — one of Japan's three famous views, celebrated since the Heian period — drew landscape artists across centuries, but Kasamatsu's moon-and-island composition is distinctly modern in its chromatic restraint and compositional economy. The moonlight turns the usually grey water silver and reduces the pine-covered islands to dark cutouts against a luminous sky.

More Prints by Shiro Kasamatsu

Bamboo in Summer by Shiro Kasamatsu

Bamboo in Summer

Woodblock print

Benkei Bridge by Shiro Kasamatsu

Benkei Bridge

Woodblock print

Bird in the Night - B by Shiro Kasamatsu

Bird in the Night - B

Woodblock print

Birds and Camellia by Shiro Kasamatsu

Birds and Camellia

Woodblock print

More Moonlight Prints

Mount Fuji on a Moonlit Night, Kawai Bridge (Tsukiyo no Fuji [Kawaibashi]), from the series "Selection of Views of the Tokaido (Tokaido fukei senshu)" by Kawase Hasui

Mount Fuji on a Moonlit Night, Kawai Bridge (Tsukiyo no Fuji [Kawaibashi]), from the series "Selection of Views of the Tokaido (Tokaido fukei senshu)"

1947

Color woodblock print; oban

Evening Moon at Nakanoshima, Sapporo (Sapporo Nakanoshima no yuzuki), from the series "Collection of Views of Japan, Eastern Japan Edition (Nihon fukei shu higashi Nihon hen)" by Kawase Hasui

Evening Moon at Nakanoshima, Sapporo (Sapporo Nakanoshima no yuzuki), from the series "Collection of Views of Japan, Eastern Japan Edition (Nihon fukei shu higashi Nihon hen)"

March 1933

Color woodblock print; oban

Matsushima in Moonlight (Tsuki no Matsushima) by Kawase Hasui

Matsushima in Moonlight (Tsuki no Matsushima)

1919

Color woodblock print

Kiyozumi Garden in Moonlight by Kawase Hasui

Kiyozumi Garden in Moonlight

January 1938

Woodblock print, ink and color on paper

Featured in Collections

Curated cross-cuts that include this print.

Shin-Hanga: Japan's Twentieth-Century Print RevivalSōsaku-Hanga: The Creative-Print Movement

Frequently Asked Questions

Moon at Matsushima was created by Shiro Kasamatsu (笠松紫浪).

Moon at Matsushima was published by Watanabe Shozaburo.

Moon at Matsushima depicts moonlight and night scenes, set at Matsushima.