HASUI KAWASE, Banyu River, Tokaido fukei senshu: Banyugawai, 1931

Technique: nishikie, Color woodblock print, Shin Hanga

Signed Hasui, red seal of the artist “Sui Kawase".

Format: oban image size: mm. 240×360 and sheet size: mm. 400x269.

Publisher: Watanabe

Printer: Ono Gintarō.

A splendid work with excellent colors. Printed on Japanese paper during the Heisei period by Watanabe. In perfect condition, with excellent margins all around. Superbly executed " bokashi " shading throughout. From the series: Selection of Views of the Tokaido, Tokaido fukei senshu.

Bibliography:
Narazaki Muneshige, Kawase Hasui mokuhanga shu , 1979, p. 65, n.174-b
Kendall H. Brown, Kawase Hasui: The Complete Woodcuts, 2003, p. 398, n. 217b

The impression, with yellow grass in the foreground, greenery on the distant shore, and a subtle gradation of dark blue and purple on the hills and Fuji, has a palette that is closer to the B version.

LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) https://collections.lacma.org/node/190202

Art Institute of Chicago: https://www.artic.edu/artworks/197066/banyu-river-from-the-series-selection-of-views-of-the-tokaido-tokaido-fukei-senshu-banyugawai

Under a sky crossed by light clouds, Mount Fuji appears in the background, its veiled peak and the surrounding hills rendered in cool hues. In the foreground, the Banyu River flows, depicted in a palette of cobalt tones; among the grasses on the bank, a small boat introduces the faintest human presence.

Biography

Kawase Hasui, ( Tokyo 1883 – 1957) was one of the most celebrated Japanese artists of the shin-hanga ("new prints") movement, which flourished in the early decades of the 20th century. This movement aimed to renew the tradition of ukiyo-e prints by combining classical techniques with modern sensibilities and Western influences.
Born in Tokyo in 1883, Hasui initially studied traditional Japanese painting ( Nihonga ) under Kaburagi Kiyokata, who later encouraged him to devote himself to printmaking. In 1918, he began collaborating with the renowned publisher Shōzaburō Watanabe , a pioneer of the shin-hanga movement. This collaboration was decisive: under Watanabe's direction, Hasui created hundreds of prints that became renowned for their extraordinary atmosphere and technical sophistication.

Themes and style
Hasui is best known for his poetic landscapes. His prints depict Japanese temples, gardens, cities, and countryside, often bathed in twilight, rain, or snow. His masterful use of light and shadow and a melancholic sensibility distinguish his work.
While drawing inspiration from ukiyo-e masters such as Hiroshige, Hasui introduced Western elements, such as linear perspective and a more accentuated realism in his landscapes.

Awards
In 1956, a year before his death, Kawase Hasui was designated a Living National Treasure by the Japanese government, a recognition given to artists considered fundamental to the preservation of Japan's traditional arts.

His works are now held in major museums around the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Hasui's prints continue to influence artists and fascinate collectors for their ability to evoke a nostalgic and timeless Japan.