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<b>KANETSUKI HALL BELL TOWER</b> / Kawase Hasui1988$2,500</em>
ARTIST: Kawase Hasui (1883-1957)
TITLE: Kanetsuki Hall Bell Tower, Okayama
MEDIUM: Woodblock print
DATE: 1947
DIMENSIONS: 15 3/8 x 10 1/2 inches
CONDITION: Excellent, no problems to note
LITERATURE: Kendall H. Brown, Kawase Hasui: The Complete Woodblock Prints, 2003, pl. 501
NOTE: First state; Round 6mm Watanabe seal
$2,500.00
Get in touch to purchase
ARTIST: Kawase Hasui (1883-1957)
TITLE: Kanetsuki Hall Bell Tower, Okayama
MEDIUM: Woodblock print
DATE: 1947
DIMENSIONS: 15 3/8 x 10 1/2 inches
CONDITION: Excellent, no problems to note
LITERATURE: Kendall H. Brown, Kawase Hasui: The Complete Woodblock Prints, 2003, pl. 501
NOTE: First state; Round 6mm Watanabe seal
$2,500.00
Get in touch to purchase
ARTIST: Kawase Hasui (1883-1957)
TITLE: Kanetsuki Hall Bell Tower, Okayama
MEDIUM: Woodblock print
DATE: 1947
DIMENSIONS: 15 3/8 x 10 1/2 inches
CONDITION: Excellent, no problems to note
LITERATURE: Kendall H. Brown, Kawase Hasui: The Complete Woodblock Prints, 2003, pl. 501
NOTE: First state; Round 6mm Watanabe seal
$2,500.00
Get in touch to purchase
Details
Light rain is falling on a small town in Okayama. The small town's pride, the village bell, is predominantly shown. The accumulating rain is shown below in pools of large puddles while a villager walks down a narrow corridor with a bright yellow umbrella. A patch of brighter blue in the sky suggests the passing rain will soon come to an end. Hasui's composition is quaint and romanticizes the small-town life of a bygone era.
The success of this design owes much to the masterful printing effects of Watanabe's skilled craftsmen. The baren sujizuri (swirls) seen in the brown of the gravel and the bokashi (color gradation) found throughout the design, particularly seen in the sky as well as in the top of the bell tower, give this impression a wonderful sense of texture and depth which bring the composition to life.
Connoisseur's Note
This work is the first state of the design as published by Watanabe. The impression bears the publisher's circular 6 mm seal at the lower right corner. The razor-sharp impression and distinctively pronounced bokashi strongly suggest this is one of the earliest impressions of this design. The print's desirability is demonstrated further by its pristine condition, exhibiting fresh, untouched colors as sharp and vivid as the day it was printed.
