Artist: Kawase Hasui
Medium: Original Limited Edition Japanese Woodblock Print
Series Title: Rain
Edition: First State - Paper Label #30/100
Date: 1929
Publisher: Kawaguchi/Sakai
Reference No.: Hotei #188
Size: 16 x 11 "
Condition: Very fine
Notes:
RARE. First state impression. Publisher's paper label on reverse, #30/100. Carver: Maeda. Printer: Komatsu. Provenance: From the private collection of the Robert O. Muller Estate.
Kawase Hasui once described himself as an artist whose works are 'wholly drawn from nature' (shasei sokkuri), and states 'that the landscapes that I see are also viewed with an eye as to how they would appear in the form of a print'. In this scene, the artists intentions are clearly seen in the dark clouds hovering over the deep green forest below, while cold rain falls on Futatsu-do Hall, Nikko. The figure of a priest, clad in yellow robes and a straw hat, passes by the tranquil temple compound.
In addition to working with a number of publishers throughout his career Hasui also collaborated with many printers and carvers, whose skills were indispensable to the printmaking process and to the successful completion of a print. In particular, Hasui is known to have a close working relationship with one of Watanabe's printers, Ono Gintaro, who principally oversaw the printing of the artist's works. However, with the sixteen prints that Hasui produced under the joint publication of Sakai and Kawaguchi, the artist worked with the carver Maeda Kantaro and the printer Komatsu Wasakichi.