Designating his artistic name after an elementary school connection and family ideogram, Hasui Kawase emerged as a primary figure of the shin-hanga movement. He produced approximately 620 woodblock prints throughout a career spanning four decades, characterized by atmospheric depth and naturalistic lighting that moved beyond the traditional constraints of historical Japanese landscape representation.
Early Development and Training
Born Bunjiro Kawase in 1883 at Shiba-ku, the artist initially pursued a career in the family rope and thread business. Following the company's bankruptcy when he was 26, he turned his focus to artistic pursuits. His formal education included studies with the painter Bokusen Aoyagi and brush painting under Kanyu Araki. Although he sought training in nihonga, his mentor Kiyokata Kaburagi directed him toward yōga, or Western-style painting, which he studied for two years under Saburōsuke Okada before returning to study under Kaburagi.
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Kawase became a prolific contributor to the shin-hanga movement, working closely with publisher Shōzaburō Watanabe. After viewing Shinsui Itō’s work, he began designing experimental prints for Watanabe in 1918. His career faced a significant interruption during the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake, which destroyed Watanabe's workshop and resulted in the loss of 188 of Kawase's personal sketchbooks. He recovered quickly, embarking on a 102-day sketching trip through the Hokuriku, San'in, and San'yō regions, which informed the realism and vivid color palettes of his later compositions.
Artistic Legacy and Recognition
His output included the highly successful Twenty Views of Tōkyō, featuring his best-selling 1925 work, Zōjō-ji Temple in Shiba. Beyond prints, he produced watercolors, oil paintings, and hanging scrolls. In 1956, the Japanese government designated him a Living National Treasure. His process for documenting traditional collaboration was famously recorded during the production of his 1953 work, Snow at Zōjō-ji. He passed away in 1957 in Ota, leaving a substantial body of work that gained significant international appreciation through collectors like Robert O. Muller.
Fast facts
- Born: 1883, Shiba-ku
- Died: 1957, Ota
- Movement: Shin-hanga, Nihonga
- Artistic career duration: Approximately 40 years
- Total prints created: Approximately 620
- Key collaborator: Shōzaburō Watanabe
- Recognition: Living National Treasure, 1956
Questions readers ask
What inspired the name Hasui?
His teacher Kiyokata Kaburagi bestowed the name upon him, deriving it from his elementary school and an ideogram of his family name, with a translation meaning water gushing from a spring.
How did the 1923 earthquake affect his career?
The disaster destroyed his sketchbooks and the workshop of his publisher, Shōzaburō Watanabe, but prompted a 102-day sketching tour that ultimately increased the realism and vividness of his later work.
Achievements
- Movement: shin-hanga and Nihonga
