Hasui | Spring Snow at Kiyomizu Temple, Kyoto
川瀨巴水 Kawase Hasui ( 1883–1957)
春之雪 京都清水寺
Spring Snow at Kiyomizu Temple, Kyoto
1932
木版画 | 纵绘大大判 | 39.3cm x 26.7cm
Woodblock-print | Oban tate -e | 39.3cm x 26.7cm
初摺；品相非常好
First Edition; Great condition
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或许是因为清水寺，“清水”二字在京都，也就成了一个专属词。这座有着逾1200年历史的古刹坐落在京都市东山区，与金阁寺，二条城并称为京都三大名胜。在其内被定为日本国宝的本堂之前平台，便是著名的“清水舞台”。“清水舞台”乃是采用“悬造式”手法，由139根巨大榉木柱搭建而成的大型全木造建筑，全高约12米。相当于四层楼的高度使其一举成为了全京都，乃至全日本最美的观景平台。不论是春天樱云，夏季瀑流，还是秋之红叶，冬日冰雪，清水平台都敞开怀抱，吸引着如织游人。但自江户时代起，民间就开始流传一种说法，说是若能从舞台上一跃而下却不死的人，就可得到神灵庇佑，心想事成。于是在有记载的180年间，就真的有234人跳下过舞台，并且还居然有200人成功生还；直到明治初期，官方颁布了禁令，这一危险行为才得以遏制。但“跳下清水舞台”这句谚语却被日本人沿用至今，意为“豁出命去做一件事”。不过在巴水的画中，你是不会看见跳台之人的。每当下起大雪，整座清水寺就如同盖上了一层厚厚的棉被，圆钝起了飞檐尖锐锋利的身形；稍远些那露出半截的三重塔，也显得比平时低矮敦实了不少，只于漫天雪花中静静耸立，聆听着雪落的声音；在积雪密布的清水舞台上，两位赏雪谈心的女子为画面点缀出仅有的缤纷。薄蓝配绯色，猩红搭绀碧，巴水最得意也最擅长的交叉对比色依然屡试不爽，全画的鲜明度立刻就被大幅拉伸，希望与人情味，也即由此而愈发丰盈。“白雪却嫌春色晚，故穿庭树作飞花。”春的脚步声已越来越近，就在姑娘们银铃般的笑语中，逐渐清晰。
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Kawase Hasui (1883–1957)
Hasui Kawase is perhaps the single most recognized woodblock artist of the Shin Hanga – new print – movement in the early- to mid-20th Century. Because he specialized in landscapes, many would say he was a successor to Hiroshige, noting his enveloping portrayals of nature, and his thoughtful placement of humans within them. But that would be too easy, because Hiroshige and Hasui in many ways could not be more different.
Whereas Hiroshige played with flat plains of negative space, Hasui embraced Western painting styles – if not techniques – to display water reflections, shadows and shades of light in all its combinations. You can easily discern the time of day and season from the light. Signs of the 20th Century Japan are everywhere – rickshaws, cars, telephone poles, steamships, even western-style umbrellas and rain slickers. Yes, he embraced snow and rain scenes like Hiroshige, and many famous views, but they live in a three-dimensional, modern world.
His prints are hugely sought-after today, with condition being extremely important to collectors. Many of the original woodblocks were destroyed in the Great Earthquake of 1923; finding examples of those pre-quake prints is challenging, indeed.
He was born Bunjiro Kawase in Tokyo in 1883, the son of a merchant. Hasui studied Japanese-style painting with Kiyokata and Western painting at the Hakubakai. He exhibited his first painting at 19. The publisher Shozaburo Watanabe – seeing the appeal of woodblock prints to the Western tourists then flooding Japan – took Hasui under his wing. The young man travelled widely to capture landscapes, making sketches as he went. Looking at the detail and perspective in some of his prints, one wonders: did he work from photographs as well?
Hasui’s Zojoji Temple in Snow – with a man pushing against the furious snow with a traditional umbrella -- has been named an Intangible Cultural Treasure, the greatest artistic honor in postwar Japan. He died in 1957.
The publishers Doi, Kawaguchi, Sakai and others also produced some Hasui works. Learning to read the seals on the prints, and therefore dating them, takes time but is well worth it. If you can find this book at a reasonable price, go for it. It’s all there.