Yoshitoshi 芳年: The Spirit of the Plum Tree (SOLD)

Artist: Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892)
Title: The Spirit of the Plum Tree (”In the Moonlight Under the Trees a Beautiful Woman Comes”)
Series: One Hundred Aspects of the Moon月百姿 (Tsuki hyaku sugata)
Date: 1888

A woman in luxurious Chinese garments appears beneath the branches of a blooming Plum tree, the giant full moon overhead. She is the Spirit of the Plum Tree, a magical being who appeared to the Chinese poet Zhao Shixiong in the sixth century. This subject became a popular one  in Chinese painting, and was later taken up by Japanese literati painters, and then again in Yoshitoshi’s time by Nihonga artists. This work has blindprinting in the mauve of her robe, indicating a heavy brocade. A very early impression, beautifully printed.

Condition: Excellent impression, color and condition. Unbacked.
Dimensions: ôban vertical (35.5 x 24 cm)
Publisher: Akiyama Buemon
Literature: John Stevenson, Yoshitoshi’s One Hundred Aspects of the Moon (San Francisco: San Francisco Graphic Society, 1992), number 59 See British Museum, Portland Art Museum.
Signature: Yoshitoshi

SKU: YOT853