VA -- Richmond -- Virginia Museum of Fine Arts -- Exhibit: Snowy Landscapes: Japanese Woodblock Prints by Kawase Hasui:
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Description of Pictures: Snowy Landscapes: Japanese Woodblock Prints by Kawase Hasui
APRIL 15, 2016 – SEPTEMBER 18, 2016
Snow at the Zojoji Temple, 1929, Kawase Hasui (Japanese, 1883-1957), woodblock print; ink and color on paper. René and Carolyn Balcer Collection, 2006.543
About This Exhibition
A leading printmaking artist, Kawase Hasui was known for his vivid winter landscapes. Snow at the Zojoji Temple depicts a woman holding an umbrella, walking in the snow in front of this ninth-century Buddhist temple. The Zojoji Temple was one of Hasui’s favorite subjects and he created several prints of this sacred site over the course of his career. In this 1929 version, one of twelve prints in the exhibition, Hasui used contrasting colors and the atmospheric perspective to create a snowy winter scene.
Other prints, also drawn from the more than 500 works donated by René and Carolyn Balcer, include Japanese landmarks such as the Heian Shrine in Kyoto, Mount Fuji near Tokyo, and the rural area in Yoshida. Seen together, they demonstrate Hasui’s remarkable skills as a printmaker and colorist, as well as his extraordinary ability to capture Japan’s identity and spirit in his landscapes. The exhibition is curated by Li Jian, E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Curator of East Asian Art.
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VMFASL_160812_01.JPG: Snowy Landscapes
Japanese Woodblock Prints by Kawase Hasui
Collectors Rene and Carolyn Balcer have given VMFA more than five hundred works created by Kawase Hasui (1883-1957). Drawn from the Bakers' generous gift, these twelve woodblock prints, produced during the years 1929-44, display Hasui's talent as a brilliant colorist and master of winter landscapes.
Hasui's snowy landscapes displayed here depict Japanese landmarks such as the Heian Shrine in Kyoto, Mount Fuji near Tokyo, and the rural area in Yoshida. Hasui sketched scenes during his travels across Japan and, in prints, fully captured the landscape's natural light and architecture. His treatment of snow reveals the influences of Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) and Ito Shinshui (1898-1972), and his color schemes range from vibrant to muted.
With the development of lithography and photography, traditional Japanese prints, known as ukiyo-e, became less popular during the Meiji period (1868-1912). Beginning in 1914, in an effort to revive ukiyo-e techniques, the publisher Watanabe Shozaburo (1885-1962) and printmakers developed shin-banga, or new prints -- a collaboration of painter, block-carver, and printer. With Watanabe, Hasui produced more than six hundred woodblock prints during his career.
VMFASL_160812_16.JPG: Kawase Hasui
Snow at Kojo Temple, December, 1929
VMFASL_160812_21.JPG: Kawase Hasui
Snow at Miyajima, July 1929
VMFASL_160812_26.JPG: Kawase Hasui
Sacred Bridge, Nikko, April 1930
VMFASL_160812_37.JPG: Kawase Hasui
Ishinomaki in Snow, March 1935
VMFASL_160812_40.JPG: Kawase Hasui
Snow at Kiyosui Garden, February 1938
VMFASL_160812_47.JPG: Kawase Hasui
Clear Sky after Snow at Mount Fuji, Tagonaoura Beach, January 1932
VMFASL_160812_61.JPG: Kawase Hasui
Snow at Godaido Temple, Matsushima, December 1932
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