Yoshitoshi's One Hundred Aspects of the Moon
Author:
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892) was the most influential and prolific woodblock print artist of Meiji Japan. This book presents his masterpiece, the wildly popular
One Hundred Aspects of the Moon (
Tsuki Hyakushi). The series was begun in 1885 and completed just before the artist's death in 1892. New designs were eagerly awaited, with editions selling out before dawn on the day of publication. The introduction of this book comprehensively treats the artist's life and work. Each of the one hundred images in the series is shown here in full colour and nearly life-size. Opposite each design a commentary gives the story behind the picture. These wonderful tales form a panorama of Japanese history and legend that resonates with the richness and subtlety of traditional Japanese culture. This is a reprint of the 1992 San Francisco Graphic Society publication.
After graduating from Oxford at the age of twenty,
John Stevenson worked in the USA and Nigeria. He lived for twenty years in Asia and has written on several areas of Asian art. He is the author of
Vietnamese Ceramics: A Separate Tradition;
Irrawaddy: Benevolent River of Burma;
Masami Teraoka: The Floating World Comes of Age;
Japanese Kite Prints; and a number of books on the work of Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, including
Yoshitoshi’s One Hundred Aspects of the Moon and
Yoshitoshi’s Strange Tales. He has served as acting curator of Chinese art at Seattle Art Museum, and now works in book production.