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<b>TWO YOUNG WOMEN STROLLING IN AZALEA GARDEN</b> / Kawase Hasui1935<B>SOLD</B></em>
ARTIST: Kawase Hasui (1883-1957)
TITLE: Two Young Women Strolling in Azalea Garden
MEDIUM: Woodblock
DATE: 1935
DIMENSIONS: 15 1/2 x 10 5/8 inches
CONDITION: Excellent; faint soiling, light toning to margins; slight discoloration to upper left corner
LITERATURE: Kendall H. Brown, Kawase Hasui: The Complete Woodblock Prints, 2003, pl. 366
NOTE: Round 6mm Watanabe seal; first and only state
SOLD
Details
Mt Fuji appears at the center of the composition while clouds hover and disperse across its majestic peak. The valley below abounds in rolling hills that pay host to blooming azaleas. The colorful grouping of blooms appears as playful rhythmic patches of color that echo the roving pattern of clouds across Fuji. Two women dressed in striking, colorful kimonos add to the color of the composition. The subtle woodgrain pattern across the composition adds a striking atmospheric effect, punctuating the poetics of this scene.
Connoisseur's Note
One of six untitled designs in the set Collection of Views of the Moto-Hakone Minami Mountain Villa. Privately commissioned by the Iwasaki family, the set was published in 1935 and sold to foreign visitors when the villa was turned into a hotel before WWII.
