{"id":2527,"date":"2021-10-24T14:30:08","date_gmt":"2021-10-24T19:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/diluo.digital.conncoll.edu\/Asianart\/?p=2527"},"modified":"2021-12-21T10:48:22","modified_gmt":"2021-12-21T15:48:22","slug":"monkey-reaching-for-the-moon-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diluo.digital.conncoll.edu\/Asianart\/image\/monkey-reaching-for-the-moon-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Monkey Reaching for The Moon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/diluo.digital.conncoll.edu\/Asianart\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/monkey.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2528\" width=\"260\" height=\"482\" srcset=\"https:\/\/diluo.digital.conncoll.edu\/Asianart\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/monkey.jpeg 432w, https:\/\/diluo.digital.conncoll.edu\/Asianart\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/monkey-162x300.jpeg 162w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 260px) 100vw, 260px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Title:<\/strong> Monkey Reaching for the Moon<br><strong>Artist<\/strong>: Shoson<br><strong>Date:<\/strong> c. 1910<br><strong>Size: <\/strong>34 x 18 cm<br><strong>Material:<\/strong> Ink on paper, color woodcut<br><strong>Repository:<\/strong> [Black] Print Collection, Art History Dept, Cummings Arts Center, Connecticut College, New London<br><strong>Accession Number:<\/strong> black061<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Description: <\/strong>This woodblock print depicts a monkey hanging from a tree branch over the surface of water, reaching down to touch the reflection of the moon. This imagery is undoubtedly derived from a popular Buddhist story that warns how the spiritually unenlightened cannot distinguish between reality and illusion. The background of the image simply depicts the sky and water with a concentrated black pigment at the top that fades into a light blue at the bottom. The moon&#8217;s reflection stands out as a basic white sphere set against the blue water. The background&#8217;s simplistic composition reflects traditional Japanese art, which utilizes flat color and lack of perspective. In contrast, the monkey is given more visual depth through the darker color and intricate detail,<span style=\"font-size: inherit;, sans-serif\"> which highlight the figure. The monkey precariously hangs from the branch above by just its fingertips, illustrating its treacherous attempt to reach the moon, creating visual intensity. The tree branch&#8217;s hanging vines mimic the monkey&#8217;s hanging composition, drawing the viewer&#8217;s attention towards the reflection at the bottom of the image. Utilizing traditional Japanese color techniques and energetic composition, Shoson emphasizes the Buddhist parable&#8217;s warning to the unenlightened. By including the motif of reflection, Shoson differentiates this print from other images of animals in nature, like his 1927 print: Cockatoo &amp; Pomegranate, which celebrates the beauty of nature and seeks to delight viewers. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>References<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Princeton University Art Museum: <a href=\"https:\/\/artmuseum.princeton.edu\/collections\/objects\/36448#:~:text=The%20image%20derives%20from%20a,distinguish%20between%20reality%20and%20illusion.\">https:\/\/artmuseum.princeton.edu\/collections\/objects\/36448#:~:text=The%20image%20derives%20from%20a,distinguish%20between%20reality%20and%20illusion.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Connecticut College Asian Art Collection: <br>https:\/\/oak.conncoll.edu\/visual\/asian-art\/Caroline%20Black%20Collection%20of%20Japanese%20Woodcuts\/index.html<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Black Collection inventory sheets:<br>https:\/\/moodle.conncoll.edu\/moodle\/pluginfile.php\/200792\/mod_resource\/content\/1\/spec_coll_japanese_prints.pdf<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Title: Monkey Reaching for the MoonArtist: ShosonDate: c. 1910Size: 34 x 18 cmMaterial: Ink on paper, color woodcutRepository: [Black] Print&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":2528,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,18],"tags":[45,3,2,44],"class_list":["post-2527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-connecticut-college","category-image","tag-color-woodcut","tag-japan","tag-print","tag-woodblock","wpcat-40-id","wpcat-18-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/diluo.digital.conncoll.edu\/Asianart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/diluo.digital.conncoll.edu\/Asianart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/diluo.digital.conncoll.edu\/Asianart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diluo.digital.conncoll.edu\/Asianart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diluo.digital.conncoll.edu\/Asianart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2527"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/diluo.digital.conncoll.edu\/Asianart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2577,"href":"https:\/\/diluo.digital.conncoll.edu\/Asianart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2527\/revisions\/2577"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diluo.digital.conncoll.edu\/Asianart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/diluo.digital.conncoll.edu\/Asianart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diluo.digital.conncoll.edu\/Asianart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diluo.digital.conncoll.edu\/Asianart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}