Xilografia originale - Carta Washi - Monte Fuji - Kawase Hasui (1883-1957) - 'Evening at Tago Bay' 田子の浦の夕 - From the series "Selection of Views of the Tokaido" 東海道風景選集 - Giappone - 1940

Original woodblock print, Published by Watanabe Shōzaburō - Kawase Hasui (1883-1957) - 'Tago no ura no yū' 田子の浦の夕 (Evening at Tago Bay) - From the series "Tôkaidô fûkei senshû" 東海道風景選集 (Selection of Views of the Tokaido) - Japan - 1940

Artist: Kawase Hasui (1883-1957)

Title: 'Tago no ura no yū' 田子の浦の夕 ([Mount Fuji in the] Evening at Tago Bay)

Series: "Tôkaidô fûkei senshû" 東海道風景選集 (Selection of Views of the Tokaido)

Signature: 'Hasui' 巴水

Seal: 'Kawase' 川瀬

Publisher: Watanabe Shōzaburō

Date: 1940

Size: 37.8 x 25.5 cm

Condition report: Trimmed, light discolouration from previous mounting.

Kawase Hasui was a shin-hanga artist best known for creating peaceful landscape prints. His valuable contribution was honoured with the distinction of 'Living National Treasure' in 1956.

This rural design, as many others by Hasui, shows a desire for a simpler way of living. There is a sense of the close-knit life of the village where families stay together and where the land is valued. Human existence is reflective, either gazing at the scenery or being embraced by it. Shin-hanga artists typically sought out places that offered such pleasing scenes capable of moving viewers aesthetically, and perhaps emotionally or spiritually.

See Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: https://collections.mfa.org/objects/254858

and Harvard Art Museums: https://www.harvardartmuseums.org/art/185192