Japanese Woodblock Print, 1930, early edition published by Sakai and Kawaguchi from the original wood blocks, with limitation seal on the verso

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COMMENTS: In 1929 the publishers Sakai and Kawaguchi began producing high-quality woodblock prints designed by the leading shin hanga artists, including Hasui for landscapes, Torii Kotondo for beauties, and Ohara Koson for bird and flower subjects. In 1931 the publishing partnership was dissolved, with Kawaguchi retaining the blocks and the skills of the printer Komatsu Wasakichi, who produced later limited editions in the 1930-40s.

KAWASE HASUI (1883-1957) was a Japanese woodblock print maker in the early 20th century. He and Hiroshi Yoshida (1876-1950) are widely regarded as two of the greatest artists of the shin hanga style, and are known especially for their excellent landscape prints. During the forty years of his artistic career, Hasui worked closely with Watanabe Shozaburo (1885-1962), publisher and advocate of the shin hanga movement. His works became widely known in the West through American print dealer and Japanese woodblock connoisseur Robert O. Muller (1911-2003). In 1956, Hasui was named a Living National Treasure in Japan.

Hasui worked almost exclusively on landscape and townscape prints based on sketches he made in Tokyo and during travels around Japan. However, his prints are not merely meisho (famous places) prints that are typical of earlier ukiyo-e masters such as Hiroshige and Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849). The prints of Hasui feature locale that are tranquil and obscure in the then-urbanizing Japan. The dreamlike quality in his designs epitomizes a yearning for the past and a preservation of the past in the midst of rapid modernization.

VG, no flaws of note