Kawase Hasui Art
Japanese, 1883-1957
Hasui Kawase (Japanese, 1883 -1957) was an artist, one of modern Japan's most important and prolific printmakers. He was a prominent designer of the shin-hanga ("new prints") movement, whose artists depicted traditional subjects with a style influenced by Western art. Like many earlier ukiyo-e prints, Hasui's works were commonly landscapes, but displayed atmospheric effects and natural lighting.
Hasui designed approximately 620 prints over a career that spanned nearly forty years. Towards the end of his life the government recognized him as a Living National Treasure for his contribution to Japanese culture.
From youth Hasui dreamed of an art career. His maternal uncle was Kanagaki Robun (1829–94), a Japanese author and journalist, who produced the first manga magazine. Hasui went to the school of the painter Aoyagi Bokusen as a young man. He sketched from nature, copied the masters' woodblock prints, and studied brush painting with Araki Kanyu. His parents had him take on the family rope and thread wholesaling business, but its bankruptcy when he was 26 freed him to pursue art.
He approached Kiyokata Kaburagi to teach him, but Kaburagi instead encouraged him to study Western-style painting, which he did with Okada Saburōsuke for two years. Two years later he again applied as a student to Kaburagi, who this time accepted him. Kiyokata bestowed the name Hasui upon him, which can be translated as "water gushing from a spring", and derives from his elementary school combined with an ideogram of his family name.
Kawase studied ukiyo-e and Japanese style painting at the studio of Kiyokata Kaburagi. He mainly concentrated on making watercolors of actors, everyday life and landscapes, many of them published as illustrations in books and magazines in the last few years of the Meiji period and early Taishō period.
Kawase worked almost exclusively on landscape and townscape prints based on sketches and watercolors he made in Tokyo and during travels around Japan. However, his prints are not merely meishō (famous places) prints that are typical of earlier ukiyo-e masters such as Hiroshige and Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849). Kawase's prints feature locales that are tranquil and obscure in urbanizing Japan.
Hasui Kawase's works are currently kept in several museums worldwide, including the British Museum, the Toledo Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Portland Art Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the University of Michigan Museum of Art, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the Stanley Museum of Art, the Walters Art Museum, the Clark Art Institute, the Smart Museum of Art, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.(Biography provided by Robert Azensky Fine Art)
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Artist: Kawase Hasui
Kawase Hasui -- Snow at Hie Shrine, circa 1946 - 1957
By Kawase Hasui
Located in BRUCE, ACT
Kawase Hasui (Japanese, 1883-1957)
Snow at Hie Shrine, circa 1946 -1957 (dated in the publisher's seal)
Woodblock
Sheet size 37.5 x 26.0 cm (vertical oban)
Frame size 51.3 x 38.5 x 2...
Category
1940s Kawase Hasui Art
Materials
Woodcut
Kawase Hasui -- Rain at Yasuniwa (Nagano)
By Kawase Hasui
Located in BRUCE, ACT
Kawase Hasui
Rain at Yasuniwa (Nagano), 1946
woodcut in colours
Signed on the block, sealed, titled and dated in ink
Publisher: Shozaburo Watanabe, with his 6mm seal
The first state
...
Category
1940s Kawase Hasui Art
Materials
Woodcut
Daybreak over Lake Yamanaka
By Kawase Hasui
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Daybreak over Lake Yamanaka
Color woodcut, 1931
Published by the Watanabe Color Print Co.
Watanabe seal "D" (1931-1941) See photo
Pre-war design and pre-war printing
Lake Yamanaka i...
Category
1930s Kawase Hasui Art
Materials
Woodcut
'Rain at Shinagawa, Ryoshimachi' — lifetime impression
By Kawase Hasui
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
A fine, atmospheric impression, with fresh colors; the full sheet, in excellent condition. Signed 'Hasui' with the artist’s seal 'Kawase', lower left. Published by Watanabe Shozaburo...
Category
1930s Showa Kawase Hasui Art
Materials
Woodcut
The Beach at Kaiganji in Sanuki Province — Lifetime Impression, 1934
By Kawase Hasui
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
The Beach at Kaiganji in Sanuki Province (Sanuki Kaiganji no hama), from the series Collected Views of Japan II, Kansai Edition (Nihon fûkei shû II Kansai hen), woodblock print, 1934. A very fine, atmospheric impression, with fresh colors; the full sheet, in excellent condition. Signed 'Hasui' with the artist’s seal 'Kawase', lower left. Published by Watanabe Shozaburo with the Watanabe ‘D’ seal indicating an early impression printed between 1931 - 1941. Stamped faintly 'Made in Japan' in the bottom center margin, verso.
Horizontal ôban; image size 9 3/8 x 14 1/4 inches (238 x 362 mm); sheet size approximately 10 5/16 x 15 1/2 inches ( 262 x 394 mm).
Collections: Art Institute of Chicago; Austrian Museum of Applied Arts (Vienna); Honolulu Museum of Art; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; National Museum in Warsaw; University of Wisconsin-Madison.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
“I do not paint subjective impressions. My work is based on reality...I can not falsify...(but) I can simplify…I make mental impressions of the light and color at the time of sketching. While coloring the sketch, I am already imagining the effects in a woodblock print.” — Kawase Hasui
Hasui Kawase...
Category
1930s Showa Kawase Hasui Art
Materials
Woodcut
Kawase Hasui -- Taisho Pond Kamikochi 土高橋大正池
By Kawase Hasui
Located in BRUCE, ACT
Kawase Hasui 川瀬 巴水 (1883-1957)
Title: Taisho Pond Kamikochi 土高橋大正池
Date: Ca. 1927
First state
Oban
frame size: 49.8 x 37.5 x 2 cm
The red “Rumi” seal of the publisher in the lower r...
Category
1920s Kawase Hasui Art
Materials
Woodcut
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Previously Available Items
Kawase Hasui -- Taisho Pond Kamikochi 土高橋大正池
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Title: Taisho Pond Kamikochi 土高橋大正池
Date: Ca. 1927
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Kawase Hasui, 'Mount Fuji, Narusawa (Late Autumn)', color woodblock print, 1936. A fine impression, with fresh colors; on cream wove Japan paper, the full sheet with margins, in excellent condition. Signed 'Hasui' in black ink with the artist’s red seal 'Kawase', lower right. The 6mm circular seal of publisher Watanabe (used 1946-1957), lower left, indicating a lifetime impression. Archivally sleeved, unmatted.
Impressions of this work are held in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago; The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo; and the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.
ABOUT THE IMAGE
The village of Narusawa is located in Japan’s Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, which was established in the same year Kawase Hasui’s “Mt. Fuji, Narusawa” image was printed. The park partially encompasses the foothills of Mt Fuji, seen here as the backdrop to a family farm as a mother and daughter perform their daily chores. A drift of late autumn clouds passes...
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Publisher: Doi Hangaten
Artist's seal and signature in lower right corner.
Presented in a new white mat.
Paper size: 15.63"H x 10.25"W (ôban size with raw top edge)
Mat size: 24"H x 20"W
Hasui Kawase (Japanese, 1883 -1957) was an artist, one of modern Japan's most important and prolific printmakers. He was a prominent designer of the shin-hanga ("new prints") movement, whose artists depicted traditional subjects with a style influenced by Western art. Like many earlier ukiyo-e prints, Hasui's works were commonly landscapes, but displayed atmospheric effects and natural lighting.
Hasui designed approximately 620 prints over a career that spanned nearly forty years. Towards the end of his life the government recognized him as a Living National Treasure for his contribution to Japanese culture.
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He approached Kiyokata Kaburagi to teach him, but Kaburagi instead encouraged him to study Western-style painting, which he did with Okada Saburōsuke...
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1940s Edo Kawase Hasui Art
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Spring Evening, Ueno Toshogu Shrine - Woodblock Print with First Edition Seal
By Kawase Hasui
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Spring Evening, Ueno Toshogu Shrine - Woodblock Print with First Edition Seal
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Publisher: Watanabe Shôzaburô
First edition, with the round Watanabe seal that was in use in the late 1940s, lower left.
Edge notations can be faintly seen through the paper from verso.
Artist's seal and signature in lower right corner.
Presented in an off-white mat.
Paper size: 15.25"H x 10.5"W (ôban size with raw top edge)
Mat size: 18.5"H x 13.25"W
Hasui Kawase (Japanese, 1883 -1957) was an artist, one of modern Japan's most important and prolific printmakers. He was a prominent designer of the shin-hanga ("new prints") movement, whose artists depicted traditional subjects with a style influenced by Western art. Like many earlier ukiyo-e prints, Hasui's works were commonly landscapes, but displayed atmospheric effects and natural lighting.
Hasui designed approximately 620 prints over a career that spanned nearly forty years. Towards the end of his life the government recognized him as a Living National Treasure for his contribution to Japanese culture.
From youth Hasui dreamed of an art career. His maternal uncle was Kanagaki Robun (1829–94), a Japanese author and journalist, who produced the first manga magazine. Hasui went to the school of the painter Aoyagi Bokusen as a young man. He sketched from nature, copied the masters' woodblock prints, and studied brush painting with Araki Kanyu. His parents had him take on the family rope and thread wholesaling business, but its bankruptcy when he was 26 freed him to pursue art.
He approached Kiyokata Kaburagi to teach him, but Kaburagi instead encouraged him to study Western-style painting, which he did with Okada Saburōsuke...
Category
1940s Edo Kawase Hasui Art
Materials
Ink, Laid Paper
H 18.5 in W 13.25 in D 0.03 in
Kawase Hasui -- Meguro Fudo Temple 目黑不动堂
By Kawase Hasui
Located in BRUCE, ACT
Title "Meguro Fudo Temple" 目黑不动堂
Date 1931; (c1940's/50's)
Publisher Watanabe Shozaburo
Seal, Carver/Printer red 6mm (lifetime edition)
Image Size 9.5 x 14.4
Impressio...
Category
Early 20th Century Kawase Hasui Art
Materials
Woodcut
Moon at Magome
By Kawase Hasui
Located in Burbank, CA
"Moon at Magome," from "Twenty Views of Tokyo". In this masterful evening view, the yellow glow from a small window echoes the haunting presence of the full, yellow moon. This field ...
Category
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Materials
Handmade Paper, Woodcut
'Rain at Shinagawa, Ryoshimachi' — lifetime impression
By Kawase Hasui
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
A very fine, atmospheric impression, with fresh colors; the full sheet, in excellent condition. Signed 'Hasui' with the artist’s seal 'Kawase', lower left. Published by Watanabe Shozaburo with the Watanabe 6mm round seal indicating a lifetime impression printed between 1945 - 1957.
An impression of this work is in the permanent collection of the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, Achenbach Foundation.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Hasui Kawase...
Category
1930s Showa Kawase Hasui Art
Materials
Woodcut
Mount Fuji Seen from Tagonoura, Evening — lifetime impression
By Kawase Hasui
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Kawase Hasui, Tagonoura no yuu II (Mount Fuji Seen from Tagonoura, Evening), color woodblock print, 1940. A fine impression, with fresh colors; on cream wove Japan paper, the full sh...
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Spring Evening at the Kintaikyo Bridge (Kintaikyo no Shunsho)
By Kawase Hasui
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
A very fine, exceptionally well-inked impression, with fresh, vivid colors, and strong contrasts, from the original publisher’s folder, never matted, framed or exposed to sunlight; i...
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Mid-20th Century Showa Kawase Hasui Art
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H 14.32 in W 9.44 in D 0.01 in
Shinshu Matsubarako (Lake Matsubara, Shinshu)
By Kawase Hasui
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Kawase Hasui, 'Shinshu Matsubarako' (Lake Matsubara, Shinshu), color woodblock print, 1941. Signature ‘Hasui’. Artist's seal (’sui’), lower right. Watanabe's 6 mm round 'A' seal (194...
Category
1940s Showa Kawase Hasui Art
Materials
Woodcut
Itsukushima no Yuki (Snow at Itsukushima)
By Kawase Hasui
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Kawase Hasui, 'Itsukushima no Yuki' (Snow at Itsukushima), color woodblock print, 1937. Signature ‘Hasui’. Artist's seal (’sui’), lower left. Watanabe, early edition with ‘C” seal (1...
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1930s Showa Kawase Hasui Art
Materials
Woodcut
Kinosaki, Tajima, 1st Edition
By Kawase Hasui
Located in Burbank, CA
First edition original Japanese Color Woodblock print, printed in 1924. A pedestrian with a yellow umbrella turns away from the viewer, increasing the feeling of solitude in this ver...
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1920s Showa Kawase Hasui Art
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Kawase Hasui art for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Kawase Hasui art available for sale on 1stDibs. If you’re browsing the collection of art to introduce a pop of color in a neutral corner of your living room or bedroom, you can find work that includes elements of blue and other colors. You can also browse by medium to find art by Kawase Hasui in woodcut print and more. Not every interior allows for large Kawase Hasui art, so small editions measuring 9 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of and Ohara Koson. Kawase Hasui art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $1,280 and tops out at $6,000, while the average work can sell for $1,900.
Questions About Kawase Hasui Art
- What did Hasui Kawase do?1 Answer1stDibs ExpertJune 30, 2023Hasui Kawase made woodblock prints and was one of the most important modern Japanese artists. The woodblock printmaking genre, unique to Japan, grew out of 17th-century developments in printing and book publishing. Kawase was a prominent practitioner of the shin-hanga (“new prints”) movement, whose artists depicted traditional subjects with a style influenced by Western art. Like many earlier artists working in woodblock printmaking, Hasui primarily created richly atmospheric landscapes. They’re characterized by an emphasis on natural lighting and the artist’s effort to draw attention to the beauty of nature. Hasui created hundreds of prints over a career that spanned nearly forty years. On 1stDibs, find a range of original Japanese woodblock prints.
- Where was Kawase Hasui born?1 Answer1stDibs ExpertFebruary 17, 2023Kawase Hasui was born in Tokyo, Japan, in 1883. He was one of modern Japan's most important and prolific printmakers and a prominent designer of the shin-hanga ("new prints") movement, whose artists depicted traditional subjects with a style influenced by Western art. Shop a range of Kawase Hasui art from some of the world's top galleries on 1stDibs.