Hasui 巴水: Aoba Castle, Sendai 仙台青葉城 (First edition) (Sold)

Artist: Kawase Hasui 巴水 (1883-1957)
Title: Aoba Castle, Sendai 仙台青葉城 (First edition)

Series: Collection of Scenic Views of Japan, Eastern Japan Edition 東日本篇
Date: 1933

Evocative evening view of Aoba Castle in Sendai. The printers have given the green moonlit walls of the castle terrific depth using a special printing technique that uses the side of the baren. The textures of the castle walls and the grass and trees contrasts with the matte black of the sky that features a single white star. Most of the original Aoba Castle, built more than 400 years ago, was destroyed during a fire in 1882 and then an air raid in 1945; this scene captured by Hasui is probably gone forever.In 2003 the castle ruins were designated a National Historic Site.  With the earliest Watanabe seal for this print; the seal was in use between 1930 and 1942. This is finest example of this work that this dealer can remember seeing, especially in terms of the richness and depth of the colors and the printing effects.

Condition: Excellent impression, color and condiition.
Dimensions: ôban (38.8 x 25.8 cm)
Publisher: Watanabe
Literature: Narazaki Muneshige, Kawase Hasui mokuhanga shu (Kawase Hasui, Collection of Woodblock Prints), 1979, no. 210. Kendall Brown, Kawase Hasui: The complete woodblock prints, Hotei Publishing, 2003, no. 305. See LACMA, FAMSF, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts collections.
Seal: Kawase
Signature: Hasui

SKU: HAS609