Traveling by Moonlight
ca. 1887–92
Medium
Album leaf; ink and color on silk
Dimensions
14 1/2 x 11 in. (36.8 x 27.9 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Culture & Period
Japan · Meiji period (1868–1912)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Charles Stewart Smith Collection, Gift of Mrs. Charles Stewart Smith, Charles Stewart Smith Jr., and Howard Caswell Smith, in memory of Charles Stewart Smith, 1914
Accession Number
14.76.61.66
Tags
Art Historical Context
Created during Japan’s transformative Meiji period (1868–1912), *Traveling by Moonlight* captures a quiet nocturnal journey along a winding road beneath a luminous moon. Kawabata Gyokushō, working in the traditional nihonga style, rendered this intimate scene on silk using delicate ink washes and subtle colors. The album-leaf format invites close, personal viewing, a format long cherished in Japanese art for its ability to evoke fleeting moments of beauty. The painting’s gentle depiction of trees silhouetted against the night sky reflects enduring themes of travel and transience in Japanese c...