望月玉泉　雪景色　絹本墨画　明治期

Gatherings of literati like the one shown here have long been one of the most popular themes in East Asian art. Mochizuki Gyokusen’s traditional theme and style also show the influence of Nihonga, a Western-style realism prevalent in Japan beginning in the late nineteenth century. It is most apparent in the details of the icy winter world, such as how the flight of a crow from a branch has caused a small shower of snow to fall in its wake. When Gyokusen was barely twenty, he became the head of the Mochizuki family of painters and an official artist of the imperial family in the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. However, he lived most of his life in Kyoto and in 1880 helped establish the Kyoto Prefectural School of Painting. This landscape was produced around that time. Though relatively unknown, Gyokusen was the first teacher of Kawai Gyokudō (1873– 1957), a famous Nihonga artist.