Yoshitoshi 芳年: Seson Temple Moon-- Captain Yoshitaka

Artist: Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892) 芳年
Title: Seson Temple Moon-- Captain Yoshitaka
Series: One Hundred Aspects of the Moon 月百姿
Date: 1888

Fujiwara no Yoshitaka was an accomplished poet, his virtuosity showing itself at a very tender age. As he was not the eldest son in the family, in order not to eclipse the weaker talent of his younger brother, he gave up on secular poetry and focused on Buddhist studies. Here he is shown on the grounds of Sesonji Temple, the moon rising above the hill behind him, bright enough to cast the shadows of the overhead tree on the ground. As Stevenson notes, there is the sense of a delicate young man being rather overwhelmed by his voluminous robes  and black hat. His gaze seems far away and contemplative, and indeed Yoshitaka was felled by smallpox at the age of 21 in 974.

Condition: Very good impression; excellent color and condition. 
Dimensions: ôban 35.6 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 69. See British Museum, Portland Art Museum, Library of Congress, Yale University Art Gallery, RISD museum collections.
Seal: Taiso
Signature: Yoshitoshi

SKU: YOT894