Art of Ukiyoe
Fine Japanese Prints
Masterpieces and rarities, from early Ukiyoe to Shin Hanga, all guaranteed original.
Our Newest
Kawase Hasui ( 1883–1957)
Konjiki Hall at Hiraizumi
Featured Print:
A Master’s Last Picture
What was Hiroshige’s last design? How about Hokusai, or Kunisada?
What was the final image these great artists completed the day or the moment before they left this Earth? We will never know. We can estimate through research those which were among their final designs, sure, but identifying the exact one with any certainty is nearly impossible.
But that’s not so in the 20th Century, and it’s not so in the case of the great Kawase Hasui.
For my new featured print, I’m taking a look at Hasui’s last design -- Konjiki Hall at Hiraizumi. It was published in a small edition by Shozaburo Watanabe 100 days after Hasui died in 1957. The first 1957 run was supposed to have 100 prints. Watanabe’s grandson Shoichiro, who still runs the family shop and factory in Ginza, isn't sure of the exact number, but thinks it was probably between 50 and 100.
This example, which is in perfect condition and comes from the original blocks, dates from 1979, when a second edition was produced. Like the first edition, it is numbered – this is 87 out of a run that was supposed to be 350. However, Shoichiro-san says far fewer were printed because — and this is amazing — sales were poor. A subsequent edition with a “Heisei” seal was printed after 1989.
The Konjiki-do – or “The Golden Hall” -- is a small building that is part of the Chuson-ji temple in the town of Hiraizumi in Iwate Prefecture in northern Japan. It’s still there and gives the visitor a sense of what this storied compound looked like in 1124, when it was completed. The steps leading up to it are just as Hasui portrayed them.
The temple was included in the World Natural and Cultural Heritage List in 2011. In the Golden Hall, 31 statues are designated as national treasures.
Hasui started work on this design on May 14, 1957. He was already seriously ill. After Hasui completed the first draft on May 31, Watanabe put the print into production, with all the elements in place by September 3.
But Hasui died on November 27, age 74, before publication. Thus, Watanabe arranged for Hasui’s wife to distribute the print on the 100th day after the great artist’s death.
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Hasui lived through decades of unprecedented upheaval and war in Japan, never having veered from this passion for art and his beloved homeland. Indeed, his prints constitute a remarkable visual record of what Japan was like during his lifetime, both before World War II and after. (As do his watercolors, some of which just sold at remarkably high prices at Bonham’s in NYC last week.)
Looking at this design, which features so many of Hasui’s classic elements – a famous site in a Japan, quieted by a steady snowfall – one cannot help but think that his mortality was in the forefront of his thoughts.
A lone pilgrim with a walking stick ascends the second set of steps leading up to the building. The palette is a somber mix of browns and grays and blues. Snow piles up around him, softening the hard geometric lines of the stone steps. Is he lost in thought thinking back on his life, on his victories and losses, his successes and failures, his loves won and missed? Hopefully, he is content, proud of all he accomplished and gave to the world.
Night has fallen. Is it the eternal night?
Please mail, phone, Wechat or WhatsApp me. I'm happy to answer any questions. I’m also happy to send additional photographs.
This is only a limited selection of our prints.
To see more, please contact me.
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