Hasui 巴水: Yudaki Waterfall in Nikko 日光湯滝

Artist: Kawase Hasui  川瀬巴水 (1883-1957)
Title: Yudaki Waterfall in Nikko 日光湯滝  Date: 1941昭和十六年

Yudaki Waterfall flows across many boulders, a tree in the foreground with a blooming pink bush in the background. Flowing water must be one of the most challenging natural processes to capture for a woodblock print artist. Hokusai, Eisen and Hiroshige all used unique methods to graphically give life to waterfalls in the 19th century. This is one of the few waterfalls that Hasui depicted, and this one takes up pretty much the entire sheet, giving the viewer a sense of its breathtaking scale. The way the artist has depicted the leaves of the tree growing from the rock at the foot of the falls also seems to be indicating movement, another visual stratagem that Hasui had up his sleeve. Yudaki Falls is located on the southern edge of Lake Yunoko and has an elevation of 70 meters and a length of 110 meters. This area is still surrounded by nature and is very scenic. With the Watanabe publisher’s seal, lower right, that was in use between 1932-1941 (Seal “D”), this may be considered a first edition.

Condition: Excellent impression, color and condition.
Dimensions: ôban (39 x 26.7 cm)
Publisher: Watanabe Shôzaburô
Literature: Narazaki #364; Hotei #450. See the VMFA collection.
Seal: Kawase  Signature: Hasui

SKU: HAS664