Artist: Kawase Hasui
Medium: Original Japanese Woodblock Print
Series Title: Twelve Scenes of Tokyo
Edition: First State
Date: 1920
Publisher: S. Watanabe Color Print Co.
Reference No.: Hotei #35
Size: 15 -1/2 x 10 -1/4 "
Condition: Very fine, with superb colors
Notes:
A tranquil early pre-quake snow scene that is emblematic of the artist's celebrated style. Dated and signed Taisho kyu fuyu (Taisho 9 [1920], winter), Hasui, with artist's seal 'Kawase', the series title on the left margin, Tokyo junidai, followed by the print title, "Kure no yuki Terajima mura".
This evocative 1920 snow scene, is one of Hasui’s most important designs. Selected for the cover of Narazaki’s 1979 monograph on the artist, the work continues to be celebrated by connoisseurs within the field of Japanese printmaking. As Hasui describes the scene: “A long, gentle slope, two or three dim lights, even the row of houses is interesting. There is a ditch on the opposite side of the road. People seldom walk on the road because of the heavy snow, which here gradually darkens into a light purple. This is the village of Terajima in Mukôjima. There are a few telephone poles and lights are just beginning to appear in the houses in the distance."