Hasui 巴水: Matsushima, Futagojima (Sold)

Artist: Kawase Hasui  (1883-1957)
Title: Matsushima, Futagojima 松島双子島
Series: Collection of Scenic Views of Japan, Eastern Japan Edition 日本風景集　東日本篇
Date: 1933

The full moon rises above the scenic islands at Matsushima. Narazaki describes this scene thus: ”This work was created using a new approach, depicting the twin islands in the foreground and showing the pure blue full winter moon through a break in the clouds over a calm sea...”. Note how the printing on the sea is smooth and glassy, and for the clouds it shows the texture of the baren. The tops of the pine trees also have a whitish halo around their upper branches, to mimic the moonlight shinging on them.  Hasui also portrayed these islands in 1919; see Brown #9. A stunning early edition, with the Watanabe seal left margin that was used between 1934 and 1941. This group of pine-clad islets in Matsushima Bay are considered one of the three most scenic sights in Japan. To be fully unfaded, as here, there must be the soft purple evident in the sky.

Condition: Excellent impression, color and condition. Mint.
Dimensions: Ôban 25.6 x 38.7 cm
Publisher: Watanabe
Literature: N#211; Hotei/Brown #306. See Art Institute of Chicago, VMFA, Honolulu Museum of Art.
Seal: Kawase
Signature: Hasui with his seal

SKU: HAC306H