Minneapolis Institute of Art

Poling a Boat in the Moonlit Water

Matsukawa Hanzan

Date

1866

Medium

Woodblock print (surimono), ink and color on paper

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Two men pole a boat through the water. The reflection of the full moon is fractured by the boat's wake. The water's blue color suggests the clear sky of a moonlit night. The image may depict Lake Biwa, Japan's largest lake. If so, the pagoda on the distant mountain range is Ishiyamadera Temple, located on the southern end of the lake, and long renowned as a good spot from which to view the full, harvest moon. As the date written on the print indicates, the print was made in autumn of 1866. An unidentified poetry association probably commissioned it to commemorate their gathering on the night of the harvest moon in late September. Interestingly, all twenty-three poems directly mention the moon, but Hanzan playfully avoided depicting the moon itself. Asia

The authoritative record is held by Minneapolis Institute of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.