The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 20, 2024

The Moon-Viewing Promontory, from the series One Hundred Views of Famous Places in Edo

The Moon-Viewing Promontory, from the series One Hundred Views of Famous Places in Edo

1857
(Japanese, 1797–1858)
Japan, Edo Period (1615-1868)
color woodblock print
Overall: 33.9 x 22.8 cm (13 3/8 x 9 in.)
The Kelvin Smith Collection, given by Mrs. Kelvin Smith 1985.320
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Beginning in the 700s, the Japanese held moon-viewing parties in celebration of the full moon during the late summer and autumn months. A full moon is visible in this print.

Description

Hiroshige, who frequently designed prints with unusual or humorous viewpoints, has placed the viewer by pine trees, peering through a doorway at the end of a moon-viewing party. The silhouette of an elaborately coiffed woman is visible through a translucent paper door; only her hem trails into the room. Another person remains seated on the floor in the upper right, near a musical instrument and a tray with blue-and-white ceramics. This figure may still be admiring the autumn moon over ships in Tokyo Bay.
  • ?–1942
    Henri Vever [1854–1942], France
    March 24, 1977
    (Sotheby & Co., London, UK, March 24, 1977, lot 372)
    1977-?
    (R. E. Lewis, Inc., California, sold to Mr. and Mrs. Kelvin Smith)
    ?–1985
    The Kelvin Smith Collection, Cleveland, OH, given by Mrs. Kelvin [Eleanor Armstrong] Smith [1899–1998] given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1985–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Sotheby's (Firm). Highly Important Japanese Prints, Illustrated Books, Drawings and Paintings from the Henri Vever Collection: Part III.
    London: Sotheby Parke Bernet & Co., 1977. lot 372
    "Checklist of the Kelvin Smith Bequest." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 75, no. 7 (1988): 292-95. p. 292 www.jstor.org
  • Japanese Gallery 235 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (July 11, 2018-January 7, 2019).
    Visions of Japan: Prints and Paintings from Cleveland Collections. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 12, 2004-April 10, 2005).
    Later Japanese Art Gallery Rotation (Gallery 113). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (August 25-December 2, 2003).
    Later Japanese Art Gallery Rotation (Gallery 113). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (February 20-May 6, 2003).
    A Private World: Japanese and Chinese Art from the Kelvin Smith Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 14-November 13, 1988).
  • {{cite web|title=The Moon-Viewing Promontory, from the series One Hundred Views of Famous Places in Edo|url=false|author=Utagawa Hiroshige|year=1857|access-date=20 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1985.320