Hasui 巴水 : Arai-cho Enshu 遠州新居町 (SOLD)

Artist: Kawase Hasui 川瀬巴水 (1883-1957) Title: Arai-cho Enshu 遠州新居町

Series: Selection of Views of the Tokaido 東海道風景選集 (Tokaido fûkei senshû)
Date: 1931, August 昭和六年八月

We feel the heat of a late summer evening, relaxing with family with the entryway open to enjoy the breezes off of the water. A crescent moon hangs above, its reflection simmering below. The sky is aglow with purple near the horizon, as well as purple in the water’s reflection. We glimpse within a soft orange glow the intimate scene of a family, with a woman cradling a baby and a man seated within, speaking with another man at the entryway. All are wearing their most relaxed clothing, and the woman holds a fan in her left hand. Like a lovely time capsule from the early Showa period. In 2010 Arai was merged into the expanded city of Kosai, and thus no longer exists as an independent municipality. In earlier times Arai prospered as a post town on the Tokaido Road and is now part of Shizuoka Prefecture. It is located on Lake Hamana, which is probably the body of water that we are seeing in this design. This may be considered a first edition, with the Watanabe “sausage” seal in the left margin, in use between 1930 and 1942. 

Condition: Excellent impression, color and condition. Perfectly unfaded; mint.

Dimensions: ôban 39 x 25.9 cm
Publisher: Watanabe Shôzaburô
Literature: Hotei/Brown number 220. See the Art Institute of Chicago, MFA, LACMA, VMFA.  Signature: Hasui Seal: Kawase

SKU: HAS623