By Request, Picture of Fujiwara Yasumasa Playing the Flute by Moonlight, a Painting Shown at the Exhibition for the Advancement of Painting in Autumn 1882, February 1883
Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paperexpand_more
The Mary Griggs Burke Endowment Fund established by the Mary Livingston Griggs and Mary Griggs Burke Foundation, gifts of various donors, by exchange, and gift of Edmond Freis in memory of his parents, Rose and Leon Freisexpand_more 2017.106.148a-c
Not on Viewexpand_more
For the Competitive Painting Exhibition (Kaiga Kyōshinkai) held in October 1882 in Tokyo, Yoshitoshi painted a hanging scroll of the flute player story. The painting must have been very well received, because soon after the exhibition the publisher Akiyama Buemon urged Yoshitoshi to create a print version of it, which since then has become his iconic masterpiece. Yoshitoshi had to adapt the composition from a vertical to a horizontal format. In the painting, the thief stands directly behind Yasumasa and both are illuminated by the moon from above. For the panoramic view of the triptych, Yoshitoshi spread the reeds over all three panels, moved the moon to the far left and the thief to the right, next to Yasumasa.
Details
- Title
- By Request, Picture of Fujiwara Yasumasa Playing the Flute by Moonlight, a Painting Shown at the Exhibition for the Advancement of Painting in Autumn 1882
- Artist Life
- 1839 - 1892
- Role
- Artist
- Accession Number
- 2017.106.148a-c
- Catalogue Raisonne
- Keyes, Courage and Silence (1982), no. 455; Iwakiri, Yoshitoshi (2014), p. 291.
- Curator Approved
This record has been reviewed by our curatorial staff but may be incomplete. These records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@artsmia.org.
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