Egenolf Gallery Japanese Art Figurative Prints

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...

"Early Summer Horse Fair" from 53 Stations of the Tokaido Woodblock print of a group of horses, originally by Hiroshige (Ando) Utagawa (Japanese, 1797 - 1858). Several groups of hor...

Dueling with Cherry Blossoms - Tales of Genji - Japanese Woodblock Rightmost panel a triptych, depicting a group of children and a samurai watching a "duel" with cherry blossoms. Th...

Annual Events for Young Murasaki (July) - Tales of Genji - Japanese Woodblock Rightmost panel a triptych, depicting monthly events for Wakamurasaki (Young Murasaki). This is the month of July. There appears to be a lesson taking place, possibly for writing or poetry. Artist: Toyokuni III/Kunisada (1786 - 1864) Publisher: Ebisu-ya Shoshichist Presented in a new blue mat. Mat size: 19"H x 13"W Paper size: 14.5"H x 10"W Commentary on the triptych: In the Edo period, Tanabata was designated as one of the five seasonal festivals, and became an annual event for the imperial court, aristocrats, and samurai families, and gradually came to be celebrated by the general public. Its origins are said to be a combination of the Kikoden festival, which originated from the Chinese legend of Altair and the Weaver Girl, and Japan's ancient Tanabata women's faith. Ink is ground with dew that has accumulated on potato leaves, poems and wishes are written on five colored strips of paper, which are then hung on bamboo branches to celebrate the two stars that meet once a year. Although the illustration is a Genji painting...

"Grave of Santa Anna's Leg" Original Woodblock Print, Signed Artist's Proof Boldly colored woodblock print by Carol Summers (American, 1925-2016). This piece is a segment of a grave, with a headstone that has a skull and cross. There are two bright green plants flanking the headstone. Below the headstone and plants, there is a large arched blue shape, with a crescent moon and stars. A red leg, bent at the knee, cuts across the blue arch. Signed "Carol Summers" along the right edge of the blue shape. Numbered and titled "A/P Grave of Sant Anna's Leg" along the left edge of the blue shape. Presented in a silver colored aluminum frame. Frame size: 32.245"H x 27.25"W Paper size: 29.75"H x 24.5"W Carol Summers (1925-2016) has worked as an artist throughout the second half of the 20th century and into the first years of the next, outliving most of his mid-century modernist peers. Initially trained as a painter, Summers was drawn to color woodcuts around 1950 and it became his specialty thereafter. Over the years he has developed a process and style that is both innovative and readily recognizable. His art is known for it’s large scale, saturated fields of bold color, semi-abstract treatment of landscapes from around the world and a luminescent quality achieved through a printmaking process he invented. In a career that has extended over half a century, Summers has hand-pulled approximately 245 woodcuts in editions that have typically run from 25 to 100 in number. His talent was both inherited and learned. Born in 1925 in Kingston, a small town in upstate New York, Summers was raised in nearby Woodstock with his older sister, Mary. His parents were both artists who had met in art school in St. Louis. During the Great Depression, when Carol was growing up, his father supported the family as a medical illustrator until he could return to painting. His mother was a watercolorist and also quite knowledgeable about the different kinds of papers used for various kinds of painting. Many years later, Summers would paint or print on thinly textured paper originally collected by his mother. From 1948 to 1951, Carol Summers trained in the classical fine and studio arts at Bard College and at the Art Students League of New York. He studied painting with Steven Hirsh and printmaking with Louis Schanker. He admired the shapes and colors favored by early modernists Paul Klee (Sw: 1879-1940) and Matt Phillips (Am: b.1927- ). After graduating, Summers quit working as a part-time carpenter and cabinetmaker (which had supported his schooling and living expenses) to focus fulltime on art. That same year, an early abstract, Bridge No. 1 was selected for a Purchase Prize in a competition sponsored by the Brooklyn Museum. In 1952, his work (Cathedral, Construction and Icarus) was shown the first time at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City in an exhibition of American woodcuts...

"Toy Horse Dance" Japanese Woodblock Triptych with Beauties and Mt Fuji Vibrant three-panel woodblock print by Utagawa Toyohiro (Japanese,...

Shin-machi Bridge at Hodogaya - Japanese Woodcut Print on Rice Paper Woodblock print of travelers on a bridge by Utagawa Hiroshige (Japanese, 1797-185...

Hokuto Tamamura (1893-1951), 'The Spirit of the Wine' (Shuten Dōji) - from Dai Chikamatsu Zenshu (The Complete Works of Chikamatsu)', color woodblock, 1923-26. Signed 'Hokuto'. A fin...

Study of Utagawa Hiroshige's "View of Hara-Juku" 53 Stations of the Tokaido Road Hand painted study of Utagawa Hiroshige's "View of Hara-Juku", (by unknown artist), from "53 Station...

Kiyomi Barrier & Seiken Temple Near Okitsu - Japanese Woodcut Print on Rice Paper Woodblock print of boats in a harbor by Utagawa Hiroshige (Japanese, 1797-1858). Originally publish...

No. 45, View of Akasaka from "Comical Views of Famous Places in Edo" Woodblock Whimsical woodblock print by Utagawa Hirokage (Japanese, active 1855–1865). Four people are sitting on...

Procession Of A Daimyo - Original Woodblock Print Original woodblock print depicting the procession of a Daimyo. Ten Japanese soldiers are seen as they aid in transporting the Daimy...