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Cherry Blossoms at Yoshino (Yoshino), from the series Snow, Moon and Flowers (Setsugekka)


「雪月花 吉野」 花
Katsushika Hokusai (Japanese, 1760–1849)
Japanese
Edo period
about 1833 (Tenpô 4)

Medium/Technique Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
Dimensions Horizontal ôban; 25 x 36.9 cm (9 13/16 x 14 1/2 in.)
Credit Line Nellie Parney Carter Collection—Bequest of Nellie Parney Carter
Accession Number34.326
NOT ON VIEW
ClassificationsPrints
In all of Japan, the place most noted for the beauty of its cherry blossoms was the mountainous district known as Yoshino, south of the old capital city of Nara. Hokusai naturally picked Yoshino to represent “flowers” in this set of landscapes based illustrating what an ancient Chinese poet had described as the three most beautiful things in the world: snow, moonlight, and flowers. In Japan, “flowers” were understood to mean cherry blossoms unless otherwise specified.

Catalogue Raisonné Ukiyo-e shûka 16 (1981), p. 229, horizontal ôban #20.3
DescriptionMFA impressions: 11.24944, 21.6713, 34.326
Signed Saki no Hokusai Iitsu hitsu
前北斎為一筆
Marks No censor's seal
No publisher's mark
改印:なし
版元:なし
Provenance1934, bequest of Nellie Parney Carter to the MFA. (Accession Date: October 4, 1934)