雪月花　吉野|Cherry Blossoms at Yoshino (Yoshino), from the series Snow, Moon, and Flowers (Setsugekka)

Katsushika Hokusai

ca. 1833 · Woodblock print; ink and color on paper · Asian Art

The most famous place in Japan for viewing cherry blossoms is Mount Yoshino in the Kii peninsula, far from Kyoto and Nara. Instead of the standard device of bands of mist separating the foreground from the background, here clusters of cherry blossoms hover in the middle ground. The other two prints in the series are Snowscape by the Sumida River and Moonlight on the Yodo River. The signature, Saki no [or Zen no] Hokusai Iitsu hitsu, indicates that the print was made during Hokusai's Iitsu period (ca. 1820–33).

Artist

Katsushika Hokusai

Date

ca. 1833

Medium

Woodblock print; ink and color on paper

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Henry L. Phillips Collection, Bequest of Henry L. Phillips, 1939