Hasui 巴水 : Evening Snow at Sanjûgen Canal 三十間堀の暮雪 (Sold)

Hasui himself wrote: “The illustration of snow in Japanese woodblock prints has long been a visually pleasing one, but without exception falling snow was illustrated with dots. I was not satisfied with this convention and wanted to depict snow so that it approximated reality. Taking advantage of a blizzard one day, I settled on this subject of the Sanjûgen Canal as a type of trial...” Note the similarities with a few of the more experimental snow scenes by Kiyochika; there is no keyblock, and there are no outlines that delineate the components of the landscape. The printing of the blowing snow is masterful, as the snowflakes streak across the entire scene using elements of both positive and negative space. Hasui notes that he worked closely with the publisher and carver/printer to utilize novel techniques to create the desired textures on the woodblocks. Very scarce, pre-earthquake design in an unusual format. The excellence of the printing and carving from this period in Japan is unparalleled in 20th century history, and will never be equalled.  Provenance: From the personal collection of the late Hasui scholar Hisao Shimizu. This exact print has been published in the 2013 exhibition catalog "Kawase Hasui--In Commemoration of his  130 Anniversary", published by the Folk Museum of Ota City and organized/written by Hisaso Shimizu. This print is shown full-page on page 35.

Series: Twelve Months of Tokyo 東京十二題 (Tokyo junikagetsu)