Hanga
Moon over Matsushima by Shiro Kasamatsu — Japanese Woodblock print, 1957

Moon over Matsushima

松島の月

by Shiro Kasamatsu

Shin-hangaSōsaku-hanga
MoonlightNight Scenes
BokashiNishiki-eMoku-hangaKentoBarenSumi
Matsushima
Date:
1957
Medium:
Woodblock print
Format:
Oban
Dimensions:
36 × 24 cm
Edition:
Published by Watanabe Shozaburo

Description

A full moon hangs over the pine-island panorama of Matsushima Bay, dated 1957, the moonlight silvering the water between the scattered islets. Kasamatsu returned to the Matsushima subject multiple times across his career, each version reflecting different conditions of moonrise, tide, and atmospheric clarity. The 1957 date places this in his postwar period, when he was working with greater freedom as a sosaku-hanga artist, and the composition may show a bolder chromatic approach to the moon-and-island subject than his prewar Watanabe prints.

More Prints by Shiro Kasamatsu

Bird in the Night - B by Shiro Kasamatsu

Bird in the Night - B

Woodblock print

Cherry Blossoms at Heian Jingu Shrine by Shiro Kasamatsu

Cherry Blossoms at Heian Jingu Shrine

Woodblock print

Nozawa Hot Spring in the Morning, Shinshu by Shiro Kasamatsu

Nozawa Hot Spring in the Morning, Shinshu

Woodblock

Great Lantern at Sensoji Temple by Shiro Kasamatsu

Great Lantern at Sensoji Temple

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 over Matsushima (松島の月) was created by Shiro Kasamatsu (笠松紫浪) in 1957.

Moon over Matsushima uses Bokashi, Nishiki-e, and Moku-hanga, on woodblock print.

Moon over Matsushima was published by Watanabe Shozaburo (1957).

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

Moon over Matsushima measures 36 × 24 cm (Oban format).