Skip to main contentProvenanceThe artist
Margo Pollins Schab, Inc., New York, New York
Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1996
Exhibition HistoryPublished References
Helen Hyde
(American, 1868–1919)
Moonlight on the Viga Canal
1912
Color woodcut on cream Japanese gampi paper
Block: 12 x 13 7/8 in. (30.5 x 35.2 cm)
Sheet: 14 15/16 x 17 7/8 in. (37.9 x 45.4 cm)
Mat: 24 x 18 in. (61.0 x 45.7 cm)
Sheet: 14 15/16 x 17 7/8 in. (37.9 x 45.4 cm)
Mat: 24 x 18 in. (61.0 x 45.7 cm)
Credit LineTerra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection
Object number1996.26
SignedIn block, lower left: HH [monogram]; in block, upper left in brown ink: copyright, 19xx [illegible], by Helen Hyde; bottom left within the image: Helen Hyde
InterpretationIn the color woodcut Moonlight on the Viga Canal, Helen Hyde captured the image of peasant men and boys, most of them wearing wide-brimmed sombrero hats, walking to a Mexico City market. Laden with goods on their backs, the figures pass along a tree-lined canal in the moonlight reflected in the serene waters in the foreground. Enchanted by the pictorial possibilities of the Viga Canal (a transport artery providing access into the city), Hyde met the challenge of depicting darkened trees and figures silhouetted against the subtle graduated pastel hues in the sky, making the reflection of the pedestrians and trees on the canal bank slightly less distinct. Composing the image in horizontal bands, she suggested spatial depth by slightly shifting tones from the darker foreground to a lighter background.
Hyde lived for many years in Japan and devoted most of her color woodcuts to contemporary Japanese subjects inspired by traditional ukiyo-e prints, as exemplified by The Sauce-Pan Shop (TF 1996.27), The Bath (TF 1996.24), and Moon Bridge at Kameido (TF 1996.25). She interrupted her residence in Japan in 1910, when she returned to the United States to undergo surgery for cancer. In 1911 she traveled to Mexico to recuperate in a warmer climate. There, she made many drawings of the picturesque scenery and culture, some of which she translated into color woodcuts after she returned to her Tokyo home in 1912. The moonlight, reflective water, silhouetted figures, and delicate coloring of Moonlight on the Viga Canal are all features that evoke the Japanese prints Hyde emulated, but the distinctive sombreros worn by the trudging figures clearly point to the image's Mexican origins.
Hyde lived for many years in Japan and devoted most of her color woodcuts to contemporary Japanese subjects inspired by traditional ukiyo-e prints, as exemplified by The Sauce-Pan Shop (TF 1996.27), The Bath (TF 1996.24), and Moon Bridge at Kameido (TF 1996.25). She interrupted her residence in Japan in 1910, when she returned to the United States to undergo surgery for cancer. In 1911 she traveled to Mexico to recuperate in a warmer climate. There, she made many drawings of the picturesque scenery and culture, some of which she translated into color woodcuts after she returned to her Tokyo home in 1912. The moonlight, reflective water, silhouetted figures, and delicate coloring of Moonlight on the Viga Canal are all features that evoke the Japanese prints Hyde emulated, but the distinctive sombreros worn by the trudging figures clearly point to the image's Mexican origins.
Margo Pollins Schab, Inc., New York, New York
Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1996
Exhibition History
(Re)Presenting Women, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, October 16, 2001–January 13, 2002.
Le Japonisme en Amérique: oeuvres sur papier, 1880–1930 (Japonisme in America: Works on Paper, 1880-1930), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, September 15–November 30, 2002.
Le Japonisme en Amérique: oeuvres sur papier, 1880–1930 (Japonisme in America: Works on Paper, 1880-1930), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, September 15–November 30, 2002.
Mason, Tim and Lynn Mason. Helen Hyde. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1991. No. 97, p. 110; ill. p. 57 (color).
