Artist: Kawase Hasui
Medium: Original Limited Edition Japanese Woodblock Print
Series Title: Snow
Edition: First State - Paper Label #/100
Date: 1929
Publisher: Kawaguchi/Sakai
Reference No.: Hotei #183
Size: 15 -1/2 x 8 -1/2 "
Condition: Very fine
Notes:
An important first state (paper label) limited-edition Hasui snow scene. Publisher's paper label on reverse, #49/100. "Made in Japan", stamped on the reverse. Carver: Maeda. Printer: Komatsu. Provenance: From the private collection of the Robert O. Muller Estate. The first state impression is highly prized by collectors due to it's precise qualities and vibrant coloration of the ink gradients.
This composition captures a winter scene at the historic Ueno Toshogu Shrine located in Ueno Park, Tokyo. It features a solitary woman dressed in traditional clothing holding an umbrella as she walks past the snow-covered stone lanterns (toro) and towards the vibrant red structures of the shrine. The work is celebrated as one of Hasui's finest snow scenes, perfectly showcasing his mastery of atmospheric light and stillness. The composition creates a stark, beautiful contrast between the soft gray-blue winter sky, the white pristine blankets of snow, and the rich red architecture of the temple grounds.
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 Kawaguchi and Sakai, the artist worked with the carver Maeda Kantaro and the printer Komatsu Wasakichi.