<b>YASUGI KIYOMIZU IZUMO</b> / Kawase Hasui1926<b>SOLD</b></em>

Details

A bright red pagoda stands at the top of a mountain as the snowfall accumulates. The snow-covered stairs that lead up to the pagoda move the viewer beyond the structure where the drama of the scene takes place: White, whirling white, snow above and below. The design reads like a Haiku, capturing a moment of transformation, the red of a temple complex slowly becoming a world of white. Hasui’s most sought after prints are snow scenes. The artist is a master at capturing this atmospheric event, as this design demonstrates.

Connoisseur's Note

This outstanding work is a wonderfully executed pre-war impression done with exceeding care. The intricate carving found throughout the design is astonishing, as is the bokashi in the sky. The subtle but meticulous circular barren work most noticeable in the sky induces a stunning atmospheric quality found only on the best of impressions. This impression lacks both the publisher seal and the series title cartouche, as does the impression in the collection of the Toledo Museum of Art, from the Bennet Collection which was acquired in 1930 from their landmark shin-hanga exhibition and gifted back to the museum in 1939.