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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. |