Kawase Hasui Art

Three soft yellow lights shine from windows, beacons from the homes at the end of our path, middle right. At left a canal flows into the sea, and textured clouds float in an early ev...

Kawase Hasui, 'Rain at Shinagawa, Ryoshimachi' from the series 'Selection of Views of the Tokaido', woodblock print, 1931. A very fine, atmospheric impression, with fresh colors; the...

Kawase Hasui, 'Chihan no Ame, Matsue' (Lakeside Shower, Matsue), color woodblock print, 1932. A fine, atmospheric impression, with fresh colors; the full sheet, from a postwar editio...

Snow at Nezu-Gongen Shrine (Nezu-Gongen no yuki) Color woodcut, 1933 Signed in the block Hasui with the red Kawase seal (see photo) Publisher: Watanabe, with the "J" seal, de...

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...

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...

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 with the Watanabe 6mm round seal indicating a lifetime impression printed between 1945 - 1957. Archivally sleeved, unmatted. Image size 14 1/4 x 9 3/8 inches (362 x 238 mm); sheet size 15 1/2 x 10 3/8 inches (391 x 264 mm). An impression of this work is in the permanent collection of the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, Achenbach Foundation. 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 (1883–1957) is the most celebrated Japanese print designer of the shin-hanga ('new prints') movement. His prints, produced under the guidance and discerning eye of his publisher, Watanabe Shozaburo, represent the modern legacy of the renowned 19th-century Ukiyo-e masters Hiroshige and Hokusai. Hasui was able to evoke the fleeting beauty of Japan during the interwar period as no other printmaker of his time could. Hasui's work enjoyed huge popularity upon producing his first print in 1918. Watanabe recognized and developed the enormous potential of the American market, resulting in Hasui's prints achieving high prices at auctions in New York as early as the 1920s. After the Second World War, his prints became highly sought-after collectible works among the American occupying forces in Japan. Hasui designed more than 600 prints during the 40-year span of his artistic career, and in 1956, he was named a 'Living National Treasure' of Japan. Hasui’s woodblock...

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...

Kiyomizu Temple in the Snow - Woodblock Print A spectacular woodblock print by Hasui Kawase (Japanese, 1883-1957), depicting a serene wintery balcony with two women under umbrellas in the falling snow at the Kiyomizu Temple (Temple of Pure Waters). One of the most celebrated temples in Japan, the temple was founded in 780 on the site of the Otowa Waterfall among the wooded hills to the east of Kyoto - the temple's name based on the fall's crystalline waters. 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. 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...

Spring Evening, Ueno Toshogu Shrine - Woodblock Print with First Edition Seal Woodblock print by Hasui Kawase (Japanese, 1883-1957). A crescent moon hangs above the five-story red pagoda of Kan’ei Temple on a clear spring evening in Ueno. Flowering cherry trees create a profusion of pink that adds to the beauty of the view. This 17th century temple is now part of Ueno Park in Tokyo and is an National Important Cultural Property, and one of the few original buildings that survived the Battle of Ueno in 1868. 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...

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...

"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 ...