100 Moonlit Views

Tsuki no Hyakusugata, 100 Moonlit Views

Published by Takegawa Risaburo in 1891

This series was apparently a tremendous financial failure, as the publisher cut off production after only 6 prints were published. Gekko was still a young artist, and would not yet have had the power or authority that he would have later in his career to push through less commercial and more artistic work. Though a short series, it is important because it tells us something about Gekko's efforts at that time, and makes for an interesting comparison between Gekko and Yoshitoshi. Though these 6 prints are not some of Gekko's best work, and Yoshitoshi's 100 Views of the Moon is certainly better, this series shows a difference between them that would eventually make Gekko the better artist. In almost all of Yoshitoshi's Moon prints, he is very literal and actually shows the moon, in sometimes unimaginative perspectives and juxtapositions, as opposed to Gekko, who merely implies the effects of the moon, that is, light and mood. He actually shows the moon in only one of the six prints. Gekko's use of color is also much more subtle than Yoshitoshi's in his Moon prints. Yoshitoshi's 100 Moons is still a great and very important series in the history of ukiyo-e. I just thought that some interesting comparisons could be made, given the similar theme and same time period.

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