A beautiful scene of Arakawa in the early summer rain, a sweet small scene along the coast.
The Woodblock Print
This oban-sized woodblock by Hasui is in fine condition with strong colors and good bleed-through to the verso. A clear verso as well as clean and intact margins. There is light discoloration along the left and lower edges of the image where the blue is green, possibly that the blue in the image was originally green.
About the Artist
One of the most sought-after Japanese printmakers, and perhaps the most recognizable shin-hanga landscape artist. Kawase Hasui (川瀬巴水, 1883-1957) was born to a textile dealer as the first son. His uncle was Kanagaki Robun, a famous playwright. A pupil of Kaburaki Kiyokata who gave him the go of “Hasui”. Afterwards, he got to know Watanabe Shozaburo, then had a chance to see “Omi Hakkei” created by Ito Shinsui from the same school as his, which brought about an interest in the woodblock printing. In 1918, he released three pieces of “Shiobara” from Watanabe Printshop, afterwards, produced a number of landscape prints throughout his life and is considered one of the greats of the Shin Hanga art movement in Japanese woodblock printing.
Notes when buying: Hasui woodblocks were printed and reprinted both during his lifetime and post-mortem. When evaluating a Hasui woodblock, it is important to look carefully at the publisher seal, which will give a rough approximation for when the print in question was published, which can then be compared to when that print was originally published. Learn more about recognizing Watanabe-published editions here.
