↗South Wind, Clear Sky, from Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji
Katsushika Hokusai
The Kelvin Smith Collection, given by Mrs. Kelvin Smith · The Cleveland Museum of Art
Image: public domain (CC0) · Museum record & image source ↗
Here, Utagawa Hiroshige’s design places the viewer by pine trees, peering beyond a doorway at the end of a moon-viewing party. The silhouette of a figure with an elaborate hairstyle is visible through a translucent paper door; only the person’s hem trails into view. Another individual remains seated on the floor in the upper right, near a musical instrument and a tray with blue-and-white ceramics, possibly still admiring the autumn moon over ships in Edo (now Tokyo) Bay.
Collection text · The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0Start with what you can see: shapes, surface, colour and scale. How might the listed materials affect the way this object was made and experienced?
Looking prompt · an invitation to observe, not a historical interpretation.
↗Katsushika Hokusai
↗Utagawa Hiroshige
↗Kitagawa Utamaro
↗Utagawa Kuniyoshi