Woman Looking at the Moon1800s · Study 1985.260

Context from the museum

In this scene, a woman pauses in her task of fulling cloth (pleating or gathering cloth to make it full) to gaze at the moon just as a flock of geese pass over. Perhaps overcome by the moment, she bites the end of her kerchief. The simple elements of fulling blocks, geese, and a full moon are traditional symbols of autumn in Japanese art. The pounding of the silk also has erotic connotations in East Asian painting. Although it is not signed, the style resembles work by painter Teisai Hokuba, known for his ukiyo-e or “pictures of the floating world.” Hokuba was an eminent disciple of the famed artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849). The woman's white face appears to reflect the moon's surface. In Japan, the autumn harvest moon has many romantic associations and is a popular subject of poetry. In mid-autumn a Moon-Viewing Festival is held on the fifteenth night of the eighth lunar moon, which is regarded as the Harvest Moon. This festival became popular during the Edo period, when the citizens of the city of Edo enjoyed a festival in honor of the moon held on the banks of the Sumida River.

Museum description reproduced from its CC0 open-access record. Read the original catalog entry.

Read the dimensions before the image

The selected painting only measurement for Woman Looking at the Moon is 33.7 cm wide and 96.5 cm high, equivalent to approximately 13.3 × 38.0 inches. Dividing width by height gives a format ratio of 0.35:1. The rectangular bounding area is 0.33 square meters; it describes the measured footprint, not the amount of paint or the monetary value.

On an illustrative 300 cm wall, the recorded width occupies 11.2% of the span before adding a frame. A centered placement leaves approximately 133.2 cm on each side before adding a frame. These are calculations by Physical Art For Crypto using museum measurements. They are not the museum’s display recommendations.

Questions to bring to your own collection

With Woman Looking at the Moon in view, identify one feature you can point to, then distinguish what the museum records from your personal response. Keep its medium, hanging scroll; ink and color on silk, in your notes when comparing contemporary works.

• Which part of this vertical composition catches your eye first?
• Would a 33.7 cm width still suit the space after allowing for furniture and a frame?
• What surface detail would you need to see in person or in a close photograph?