Toyama Plain (Toyama no hara), from the series "Twelve Scenes of Tokyo (Tokyo junidai)"

Kawase HasuiWW-1920-101806

1920·Color woodblock print·38.5 × 26.5 cm (15 3/16 × 10 7/16 in.)

<p>About this print, Kawase Hasui wrote: Alighting from the national electric train at Ôkubo station, I hurried toward the Toyama Plain. I wanted to depict the winter moon, which could be compared to an old woman’s makeup in its graceful but frail nature. Even though night had just fallen, the scene was deserted in the cold, withered, and wintry group of trees, eerie in the blurred lights visible in the forest. The moon casts a pale blue light.</p>

Catalogue

Year: 1920
Medium: Color woodblock print
Dimensions: 38.5 × 26.5 cm (15 3/16 × 10 7/16 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: Kawase Hasui

Artist

Kawase Hasui

Printmaking

Kawase Hasui was a Japanese woodblock printmaker specializing in landscape and travel scenes during the early twentieth century. Working in the shin-hanga tradition, he created atmospheric compositions of rural Japan, coastal views, and seasonal phenomena using bold compositional framing and a restrained palette of blues, greens, and earth tones. His prints capture nocturnal and weather-dependent moments, emphasizing mood over topographical detail. Hasui's approach bridged Edo-period ukiyo-e conventions with modernist sensibilities of line and negative space.

Japan

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