The Lady of the Evening Faces - Tsukioka Yoshitoshi

A classic Meiji-era woodblock print from Tsukioka Yoshitoshi's One Hundred Aspects of the Moon series, depicting a fox in a moonlit field.

This woodblock print belongs to the series One Hundred Aspects of the Moon, a collection of one hundred designs by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi produced between 1885 and 1892. The series draws upon Japanese history, folklore, and literature to explore themes of the supernatural and the human condition. This specific composition references the Tale of Genji, specifically the chapter concerning the character Yūgao, whose name translates to 'evening faces' or moonflower.

Yoshitoshi employs a restrained palette to convey the nocturnal atmosphere. The large, pale moon dominates the upper portion of the frame, casting a soft glow over the scene. Below, a fox sits amidst tall, dark grasses. The creature is rendered with careful attention to its fur texture and posture, appearing alert yet solitary. The composition balances the emptiness of the night sky with the density of the foreground vegetation. The print demonstrates the technical precision of the Meiji-era woodblock tradition, utilising subtle gradients in the ink to suggest the depth of the evening air. The inclusion of the cartouche in the upper right corner provides the series title, a standard feature of the collection. This work reflects the artist's interest in the intersection of the mundane and the ethereal, a common theme in his later output. The print is a representative example of the late Ukiyo-e style, which maintained traditional techniques while incorporating more psychological depth and atmospheric effects than earlier works of the genre.