Harvard Art Museums > TL42642.10: Moons of the Four Seasons Paintings Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"Moons of the Four Seasons (Mochizuki Gyokusen 望月玉泉) , TL42642.10,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Nov 24, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/340402. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Gallery Text Here Gyokusen charts the cyclical course of the moon, rhythmically waxing and waning through the seasonal skies in four hanging scrolls. Although his palette of bruised ink washes and golden mists foregrounds the moon’s long-established poetic symbolism, the specificity of the lunar forms—two full and two waning gibbous moons—reflects a more empirical approach. The silk mountings are painted with traditional seasonal emblems to locate the otherwise temporally ambiguous subject in particular times of year. Progressing right to left, spring is marked with cherry blossoms, summer with a cuckoo, autumn by returning geese, and winter with falling snow. Identification and Creation Object Number TL42642.10 People Mochizuki Gyokusen 望月玉泉, Japanese (1834 - 1913) Title Moons of the Four Seasons Classification Paintings Work Type hanging scroll, painting Date 1911 Places Creation Place: East Asia, Japan Period Meiji era, 1868-1912 Culture Japanese Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/340402 Location Location Level 2, Room 2600, East Asian Art, East Asian Painting and Decorative Arts View this object's location on our interactive map Physical Descriptions Medium Set of four hanging scrolls; ink, light color, gold, and silver on silk Dimensions each scroll mounting, including roller ends and suspension cord: H. 189 × W. 49.5 cm (74 7/16 × 19 1/2 in.) Inscriptions and Marks inscription: painting "Winter": 明治四十有四年仲春 玉泉作 [Painted by Gyokusen in the second lunar month of Meiji 44] seal: painting "Spring"; upper; square, intaglio: 源重岑 [Minamoto Shigemine] seal: painting "Spring"; lower; square, relief : 玉泉 [Gyokusen] seal: painting "Summer"; upper; jar-shaped, relief: 一 [Ichi] seal: painting "Summer"; lower; square, intaglio: 玉泉 [Gyokusen] seal: painting "Autumn"; upper; jar-shaped, relief: 一 [Ichi] seal: painting "Autumn"; lower; square, intaglio: 玉泉 [Gyokusen] seal: painting "Winter"; upper; square, intaglio: 源重岑 [Minamoto Shigemine] seal: painting "Winter"; lower; square, relief: 玉泉 [Gyokusen] signature: spring: 七十六翁玉泉作 [By seventy-six-year-old Gyokusen] Acquisition and Rights Credit Line Promised gift of Robert S. and Betsy G. Feinberg Object Number TL42642.10 Division Asian and Mediterranean Art Contact am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu Permissions The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request. Descriptions Commentary Scroll a: Spring. Full moon seen through a misty night sky. The mount illustrates a budding willow tree in moonlight. The thin textile bands (ichimonji) are actually cherry blossoms painted in silver and gold. Scroll b: Summer. A three-quarter moon in summer sky. The mount shows a small cuckoo (hototogisu) flying in the clouds over a stream. The painted ichimonji are of summer flowers. Scroll c: Autumn. A full clear harvest moon rises over the autumn grasses shown in the mount. Ichimonji illustrate the autumnal theme of geese flying over reeds. Scroll d: Winter. A three-quarter moon is depicted in a stormy sky. On the mount, light snow falls on a fallow rice field. Ichimonji reflect the winter theme in the choice of pine needles and pine cones. Publication History Musée Cernuschi, Le Japon au fil des saisons: Collection Robert et Betsy Feinberg, exh. cat., Paris-Musées (Paris, 2014), pp. 140-143 Emma Giuliani, Quatre saisons au Japon: Un livre anime, Musée Cernuschi (Paris, 2014) Rachel Saunders and Yukio Lippit, Painting Edo: Selections from the Feinberg Collection of Japanese Art, exh. cat. (Cambridge, MA, 2020), p. 90, fig. 79 Rachel Saunders, ed., Catalogue of the Feinberg Collection of Japanese Art, brochure, Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, 2021), pp. 66-67, cat. 56 Exhibition History 32Q: 2600 East Asian, Japanese, Chinese and Korean, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 06/08/2024 - 12/02/2024 Painting Edo: Japanese Art from the Feinberg Collection, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 02/14/2020 - 06/06/2021 Verification Level This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
