Landscape to City: 20th Century Japanese Prints Part II
Landscape to City: 20th Century Japanese Prints Part II
Kawase Hasui (1883-1957) | Snow at Zojoji Temple (Zojoji no yuki) | Showa period, 20th century
Lot Closed
May 10, 03:08 PM GMT
Estimate
5,000 - 8,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Kawase Hasui (1883-1957)
Snow at Zojoji Temple (Zojoji no yuki)
Showa period, 20th century
woodblock print, signed Hasui, sealed Kawase, titled in the left margin as above, dated Showa nijuhachinen saku (made in 1953), limited edition paper label to verso dated Showa nijuhachinen kugatsu (September 1953), and stating in Japanese Zaidan hojin bunkazai kyokai hakko, bunkazai hogo iinkai zohan, Zojoji no yuki, seisaku nihon hanga shuppan kyokai seisaku kantoku Kawase Hasui, and in English in Roman script: Gate of Zojoji Temple, Tokyo, in Snow by Hasui Kawase, Published by Commission for Protection of Cultural Properties, No. 155 and with two red seals
36.8 x 46.8 cm., 14½ x 18⅜ in.
Before the vermillion main gate of the Zojoji temple in Shiba, Tokyo, thick overcoats and parasols cover three figures awaiting a tram from snow. Another solitary figure walks in the direction of the blustering wind off to the right of the scene. The impressive wood structure, a symbol of a past Japan, is strikingly bifurcated by suspended electrical wiring; an intentional nod to the coexistence of tradition and modernity that marks the townscapes of the archipelago.
As recorded on the label affixed to the reverse, this print was issued in 1953 by the Commission for Protection of Cultural Properties. The print itself was designated an Intangible Cultural Asset, honouring the artisans, publisher and artist whose joint efforts resulted in the production of the work.1 The foremost carver and printer of the time, Sato Jurokichi and Ono Gintaro (1885-1962), realised the design with immense detail. The multi-storeyed temple structure is illustrated with keen attention on the block-cutters part, while the snowflakes are executed with repeated over-printing of over forty impressions.2
Three years later in 1956 Hasui was designated a Living National Treasure a year before his death.
1. Helen Merritt, Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints: The Early Years, (Honolulu, 1990), p. 56.
2. Kendall H. Brown, Visions of Japan: Kawase Hasui’s Masterpieces, (Amsterdam, 2004), p. 148, no. 97.
For a similar impression of the same print in the collection of the Edo Tokyo Museum, collection ID 07200017, go to: