1884
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Full Moon with Crow on Plum Branch is a 1884 by Kawanabe Kyōsai 河鍋暁斎, a Impressionism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a bright full moon behind a thin plum branch, with two crows perched on it. The poem tucked in the corner tells a tiny story: the crows are noisy guests in the artist’s house, their squawks mixing with the scent of plum blossoms. The moonlight turns the branches into delicate shadows on the window. It’s a quiet moment, but the words make it feel alive. Look up more paintings of japan, edo period (1615–1868) to see how artists played with nature and poetry.
The accompanying poem may be translated as: The plum accompanies their squawking forms; Its fragrance assaults their feathers. Beautiful shadows of the branches in the moonlight Climb toward the study curtain. The pair of crows that have lodged in my house Cry and make to fly a way, Under the bright moon in the depths of the night.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Kawanabe Kyōsai (河鍋 暁斎; May 18, 1831 – April 26, 1889) was a Japanese painter and caricaturist. In the words of art historian Timothy Clark, "an individualist and an independent, perhaps the last virtuoso in traditional Japanese painting".
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