Kasamatsu Shiro 紫浪: Pine Tree at Yudanka Hot Spring 雨乞の松 湯田中温泉 (SOLD)

Artist: Kasamatsu Shiro 紫浪 (1898-1991)

Title: Pine Tree at Yudanka Hot Spring 雨乞の松 湯田中温泉  Date: 1950

A pine tree spreads its branches, casting shadows on the earth below beneath the full moon. Its trunk of enormous girth may be seen at the top of a flight of stone steps that pass beneath a torii gate. A single man walks on the road at lower right, his pose almost contemplative. Yudanka Onsen is a historic spa town with a 1300-year-old history in Nagano Prefecture. This work was published in a small edition size by Kinjiro Watanabe, a nephew of Watanabe Shozaburo.  Shiro produced only about eight documented designs with this publisher between 1948 and 1950; the publisher did not affix a seal to these designs, and little is known about him in the west. These works have a Watanabe Shozaburo-like feeling, that although similar, is not quite the same. One might surmise that Kinjiro worked at first for many years with his uncle. There are no later editions known of these works, as we may guess that Shozaburo did not approve of the endeavor.

Condition: Excellent impression, color and condition.
Dimensions: ôban 39.7 x 27 cm.
Publisher: Watanabe Kinjiro  Seal: Shiro 

Literature: Grund, Andreas, "Shiro Kasamatsu - The Complete Woodblock Prints", Tokyo, privately published, Revised 2020, number 65, page 68.

SKU: SHR037