Hasui | Tsuchizaki, Akita, Souvenirs of Travel, Third Series
川瀨巴水 Kawase Hasui ( 1883–1957)
旅行第三集 秋田土崎
Tsuchizaki, Akita, from the series of Souvenirs of Travel, Third Series
Tsuchizaki, Akita from Souvenirs of Travel
1928
木版画 | 纵绘大大判 | 39cm x 26cm
Woodblock-print | Large Oban tate-e | 39cm x 26cm
初摺；品相非常好
First edition; great condition
$6,200
1923年9月，关东大地震引发的火灾烧毁了巴水大量的原画与写生帖；版元渡边庄三郎亦损失惨重，失去了几乎所有的版画与版木。但近乎一无所有的两人并没有一蹶不振，反而迅速规划好了下一步——出版《旅行纪念品》的第三集。于是，巴水开启了他一生中最长的一次旅行——此次旅行长达102天，足迹踏遍了几乎整个本州岛及九州地方。之后，巴水用五年的时光，26幅作品再现了他眼中的历历风景，为《旅行纪念品》系列，画上了一个圆满的句点。土崎，即土崎港町，旧行政区划，原境位于今秋田县秋田市北部。有赖于附近八桥油田的巨大产油量与秋田运河的磅礴水力，直到昭和前期，此处都一直是众多大型炼油厂的集中地，人烟阜盛，颇为繁荣。火烧云将天际点燃，汇聚成涌动的金河。徐行于彼时还名为雄物川的秋田运河畔，静静地欣赏着投映在河面的余晖。身边的一条木船已朽烂许久，半截船身如鱼骨般浸泡在水中。温暖的旧木色泽，同时也传递给了中景内的片片浮渚以及远景河滩上的排排厂房。安宁闲适的风景，怎么看也看不够。
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Kawase Hasui (1883–1957)
asui 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 woman 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.