Exhibition Yoshitoshi. Master of the Moon

One hundred prints, one hundred stories, and always the moon. The famous print series One Hundred Aspects of the Moon by the Japanese artist Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839–1892) is on display at the Van Gogh Museum for the first time.

In this dossier exhibition you'll discover why Yoshitoshi is regarded as the last great master and innovator of Japanese printmaking.

Colourful stories

In one hundred colourful prints you'll see poets, samurai, courtesans and mythical figures from Japanese and Chinese history, literature, mythology and folklore. Yoshitoshi brings their stories to life in powerful, colourful compositions.

The moon is the unifying element in these prints. It symbolises contemplation and nostalgia. Sometimes the moon is clearly visible, but at other times, only the moonlight reveals its presence.

Masterpiece

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi is one of the 19th century’s most important Japanese printmakers. He combined Japanese traditions with ideas from Western art, such as perspective and realism. In this way, he developed an innovative and distinctive style.

The series One Hundred Aspects of the Moon is considered Yoshitoshi’s masterpiece and one of the last great series within the Japanese printmaking tradition, the ukiyo-e.

Japanese prints at the Van Gogh Museum

Vincent van Gogh was greatly inspired by Japanese art. He collected hundreds of Japanese prints, including five by Yoshitoshi. His print collection is housed at the Van Gogh Museum.

Van Gogh studied the prints closely and used ideas from the Japanese style into his own art, such as large areas of colours, striking compsitions and strong outlines.

The print series One Hundred Aspects of the Moon is remarkably complete and well-preserved. The prints come from the estate of Elise Wessels (1943–2023), an art collector and founding director of the museum Nihon no hanga.

She bequeathed her collection to several Dutch institutions. Through the Dutch inheritance tax scheme, 141 Japanese prints from her collection, including the complete series One Hundred Aspects of the Moon, were transferred to the Dutch State to be housed at the Van Gogh Museum.