Kawase Hasui: Capturing the Soul of Japan - Hardcover

Uhlenbeck, Chris; Dwinger, Jim; Ouweleen, Philo

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 9464781181 ISBN 13: 9789464781182

Verlag: Ludion, 2026

Inhaltsangabe

Discover the timeless beauty of Kawase Hasui, the master of shin hanga, in this stunning new book, featuring his most breathtaking woodblock prints and expert insights into his legacy.

Kawase Hasui (1883–1957) was one of the most important and prolific Japanese printmakers of the 20th century. He was one of the main creators of the shin hanga (‘new prints’) movement, whose artists depicted traditional subjects in a style influenced by Western painting. Shin hanga prints are harmoniously balanced designs, printed on the highest quality paper using the finest pigments, and in small editions. They are the fruit of a traditional yet successful collaboration between artist, publisher, block cutter and printer and have become increasingly popular among collectors of Japanese prints in the last decade. Hasui began his artistic career studying Japanese painting. However, soon after seeing Shinsui’s Eight Views of Lake Biwa series, Hasui turned to woodblock printing in 1919. Shozaburo Watanabe was the first to recognize his artistic genius, and Hasui Kawase soon became the most popular artist working for this prestigious publisher. He produced nearly a thousand woodcuts in a career that spanned almost forty years. Towards the end of his life, the Japanese government recognized him as a ‘Living National Treasure’ for his contribution to Japanese culture.

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Author Chris Uhlenbeck has organized several major exhibitions on Japanese art, including Shin Hanga: the new prints of Japan which was on view in the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Sieboldhuis Leiden and in the Museum for Ostasiatische Kunst in Cologne, in 2022. Jim Dwinger is an expert in Japanese art history and a specialist in woodcuts, and Philo Ouweleen is a visual artist with an MA in Japanese studies.

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Kawase Hasui (1883-1957) was one of the most influential Japanese print artists of the twentieth century. A leading figure of the shin hanga movement and a prodigious designer of landscape prints, Hasui combined traditional Japanese themes with Western techniques, such as perspective and lighting.

Kawase Hasui: Capturing the Soul of Japan offers a richly illustrated overview of Hasui's almost forty-year career, with special attention given to recurring themes in his art, from the tranquil villages of the Shiobara hot-springs district to the shifting urban landscapes of Tokyo.

Hasui produced some six hundred woodblock prints, numerous watercolours as well as illustrations for magazines and postcard-sized prints that to date have been little researched. His activity coincided with a period of Japan's changing national identity and this publication explores how elements of state propaganda at times subtly shaped his choice of motifs, a trend also seen in the work of other shin hanga contemporaries.

Also included in this volume is a discussion of print variations and the use of seals in identifying Hasui prints, which assists readers - scholars, collectors and enthusiasts of Japanese art - to have a deeper understanding of this important print artist.

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Ludion
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2026
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 9464781181
• ISBN 13: 9789464781182
• Einband: Gebundene Ausgabe
• Auflage: 2
• Anzahl der Seiten: 224
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Abrams & Chronicle Vertrieb; info@abramsandchronicle.co.uk; ; 22-24 Ely Place 1st Floor; London; EC1N 6TE; Vereinigtes Königreich