1883, Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, Fujiwara no Yasumasa Playing the Flute by Moonlight -- Legion of Honor (San Francisco)
From the museum label: In addition to his print design practice, Tsukioka Yoshitoshi was also an accomplished painter. After a publisher encountered the artist's painting of the same subject, he commissioned this woodblock print. Considered Yoshitoshi's masterpiece, it depicts an encounter between famed musician Fujiwara no Yasumasa (956-1036) and a bandit. Entirely transfixed by the sound of the flute, the bandit, crouched down, is unable to strike. Yoshitoshi conveys the scene's psychological intensity through the tonality of the dark sky and sense of atmosphere characteristic of his late work.
1883, Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, Fujiwara no Yasumasa Playing the Flute by Moonlight -- Legion of Honor (San Francisco)
From the museum label: In addition to his print design practice, Tsukioka Yoshitoshi was also an accomplished painter. After a publisher encountered the artist's painting of the same subject, he commissioned this woodblock print. Considered Yoshitoshi's masterpiece, it depicts an encounter between famed musician Fujiwara no Yasumasa (956-1036) and a bandit. Entirely transfixed by the sound of the flute, the bandit, crouched down, is unable to strike. Yoshitoshi conveys the scene's psychological intensity through the tonality of the dark sky and sense of atmosphere characteristic of his late work.