Shotei produced a wide range of subjects throughout his career under publishers Watanabe and Daikokuya. Signed, sealed lifetime editions consistently outperform unsigned export-market copies.
A canal or river at night becomes a long mirror for the moon above it, the lunar disc reflected in the still water while the buildings and trees along the bank are reduced to dark shapes against the luminous sky. Shotei's canal moonlight composition works through the contrast between the bright central reflection and the surrounding darkness — the moon's path across the water drawing the eye from the bottom of the image to the disc hanging in the upper portion of the sky. The [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) treatment creates the atmospheric glow around the moon that separated print from photograph.
Nikko Chuzenjiko
1930
Color woodblock print; oban
Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Niigata Gosaibori
1921
Color woodblock print; oban
Woodblock print
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Canal by Moonlight was created by Takahashi Shotei (高橋松亭).
Canal by Moonlight uses Bokashi, on woodblock print.
Canal by Moonlight was published by Watanabe Shozaburo.
Canal by Moonlight depicts rivers & lakes, moonlight, and night scenes.
