Artist: Kawase Hasui
Medium: Original Japanese Woodblock Print
Series Title: Selected Views of the Tokaido Road
Edition: S. Watanabe Lifetime Edition - 6mm Circular Seal
Date: (1932)
Publisher: S. Watanabe Color Print Co.
Reference No.: Hotei #223 (full page)
Size: 15 -1/4 x 10 -1/2 "
Condition: Very fine
Notes:
Lifetime edition (circular 6mm seal) prints were strictly used on impressions produced between 1946 and 1957 and were also personally supervised and/or authorized by Hasui. These editions are far more affordable options for the everyday collector, created using the original woodblocks by the S. Watanabe Color Print Co.
This is one of the most celebrated and atmospheric masterpieces by the artist. A central highlight of this print is the shimmering reflection of the glowing windows deflecting off the rain-stricken road. The streaking atmospheric rain effect was explicitly created through the specialized usage of the baren pad during the printing process to manipulate the ink onto the paper, rather than solely relying on carved block lines.
The print required approximately twenty hand-carved woodblocks and twenty-five superimposed printings to achieve its deep, atmospheric gradient effects.