Hasui 巴水: Futatsu Hall, Nikko 日光二ツ堂 (Sold)

Artist: Kawase Hasui 川瀬巴水 (1883-1957)
Title: Futatsu Hall, Nikko 日光二ツ堂
Date: 1929

A lone man with an old-fashioned straw rain cape walks towards the famous vermilion buildings of Futatsudo at the shrine of the Nikko Toshogu at dusk.  Rain is falling in the faintest grey/silver slivers, and the rows of verdant trees give the feeling of midsummer. The trees in front are a deep green, while the rows of trees in the back transition to a more blue tone, as would be seen by the eye in person. This work is from an early edition that was published by both Sakai and Kawaguchi, prior to the breakup of their partnership in 1931. The names of both Kawaguchi and Sakai are written horizontally, bottom left. The seal in the left margin contains the names of the printer and carver, also indicating an early edition. For this design there are two numbered editions that were published by both Kawaguchi and Sakai, but those were most certainly intended primarily for export, as it was the westerners who had an attachment to numbered editions. As numbered editions were a western concept, and a fairly recent one at that, it was not much of an issue to the Japanese.

The printing on this work, especially as seen in the depth of the trees and sky and the subtlety of the falling rain, is as fine as any of the first S & K numbered editions, and certainly better than the Kawaguchi-printed edition.

Condition: Excellent impression and color; very good condition. Some minor wrinkles on margin.
Dimensions: ôban (42.7 x 28 cm)
Publisher: Sakai-Kawaguchi
Literature: Narazaki #Ks-8; Hotei #188. See “The New Wave”, number 162, page 146. See the Art Institute of Chicago, Minneapolis Museum of Art collections online.

Seal: Seals of carver Maeda and printer Komatsu, lower left.
Signature: Hasui

SKU: HAS552