Cheoneunsa Temple, Mt. Jiri, Korea

Vertical ōban. Dimensions: 14 ¼ x 9 ½ (36.20 x 24.13 cm)

Markings: Artist’s signature: Hasui 巴水 Artist’s seal: sui 水 (circular, stylized, red) Publisher’s seal: Watanabe ワタナべ (circular, quarters alternating between red character and red ground) Title: Chōsen Chiisan Senonji 朝鮮 智異山 泉隠寺 Date: Shōwa 15 昭和十五年

Gift of Waynor and Laurie Rogers

This print illustrates the technique of bokashi: printing color graded from an intense hue toward white. To accomplish this effect, the printer spreads rice paste over the board before applying color. The result is a painterly style which is nearly indistinguishable from watercolor painting. To obtain other effects, the same area might be reprinted several times.

Kawase Hasui was trained in his family’s business, but at age 25 decided to study woodblock printing. He was accepted as a print student of Kiyokata Kaburagi who taught many students and introduced them to the publisher Watanabe Shōzaburō. In 1930, with the help of Watanabe, Hasui exhibited 92 prints in the landmark Toledo Museum of Art exhibition, which introduced his works to the West and led to his international recognition as a Japanese landscape print artist. Hasui sketches for his prints were often done on site to better capture light, atmosphere, and mood. He was one of the more successful Shin Hanga or “New Print” (1916-1950s) artists and was named a Living National Treasure by the Japanese government in 1956. His achievements in art are particularly extraordinary given that, for much of his life, Hasui was so near-sighted as to be almost blind.

This print can be found on the Japanese Art Open Database (JAODB): http://www.jaodb.com/db/ItemDetail.asp?item=31999, opens in a new window and is held by: The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo: http://search.artmuseums.go.jp/records.php?sakuhin=5798, opens in a new window The Museum of Fine Arts Boston: http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/the-cheoneunsa-temple-mt-chiri-korea-ch%C3%B4sen-chiizan-senin-ji-from-the-series-views-of-korea-continued-zoku-ch%C3%B4sen-f%C3%BBkei-253585, opens in a new window