Skip to main content
Advanced Search
Screen painting of a poet with the full moon and snowy plums
Screen painting of a poet with the full moon and snowy plums

Screen painting of a poet with the full moon and snowy plums

Artist (Japanese, 1799–1823)
Datecommissioned for a New Year, ca. 1819–1820
MediumColor woodblock print
Dimensions8 7/16 × 7 7/16 inches (21.4 × 18.9 cm)
ClassificationsPrints
Credit LineGift of Joanna Haab Schoff, Class of 1955
Terms
  • Surimono
  • Color woodblock print
  • Poetry
  • Moon
  • Trees
  • Poets
  • Japanese
Object number2011.017.014
Label CopyUme ga ka to The scent of the plum blossoms Tsuki no kaori no And fragrance of the plum Nakazora ni Combine in mid-air Majieru iro ya In the color Kasumu murasaki Of misting purple —Shozanro Shigemi Hisakata no The fragrance of the Tsuki no kaori mo Everlasting moon Ume ga ka mo And the scent of the plum Mushiro hedatenu Not so different Haru no utabito For the poet in springtime —Seikaitei Kamendo The identification of the poet depicted has not been absolutely determined. One possibility is that he represents Prince Genji in exile in Suma, wistfully looking at the moon over the sea. There are multiple poems in the Tale of Genji concerning the moon and longing for home, while the mention of murasaki in the first verse hints at both the author of the Tale of Genji, Murasaki Shikibu, and the character Murasaki, for whom Genji most longs in these chapters. (“Moon," curated by Ellen Avril and presented at the Johnson Museum August 25, 2018-January 13, 2019)
Collections