Hasui Kawase
Kawase Hasui (Japanese川 瀬 巴 水, born May 18, 1883 in Tokyo, † 1957) was a master of the Japanese woodblock Shin- hanga movement. Shortly before his death Hasui Kawase 1956 awarded by the Japanese government.
Biography
Youth and Education
Hasui was born under the name Bunjiro on May 18, 1883 in Tokyo as the son of a merchant family. As a child, Hasui learned to paint in the Western style. His first teacher was Saburosuke Okada, who taught him the techniques of Aquarall and oil painting. Hasuis family was not very happy about his artistic ambitions and tried to prevent his artistic career.
The school had yet to leave Hasui at the age of 12 years and initially took the painter Aoyagi Bokusen lessons. The promise to lead the family business later on, then took an apprenticeship at Araki Kan'yu possible. First marriage to a store employee his sister Aya allowed Hasui finally to turn entirely to the art.
Study
With 26 Kawase Hasui tried for the first time in the workshop of the great master of traditional Japanese school Kiyokata Kaburagi ( 1878-1973 ) to enter. Rejected at first, he succeeded two years later on the next attempt. Kiyokata soon realized Hasuis talent and introduced him to Watanabe Shôzaburô.
Collaboration with Watanabe
Kawase Hasui maintained a close and lifelong collaboration with the publisher Watanabe Shôzaburô (1885-1962), founder of the Shin Hanga movement. He was the one who has kept the high art of Japanese woodblock from extinction by impoverished artists supplied with orders. The photography and modern printing processes had made the woodblock superfluous as reproductive technology, but the discovery of the artistic value of the woodcuts gave it a chance. More than 100 woodcuts had moved from Kawase Watanabe. Then destroyed in a fire after an earthquake in 1923 all the work and the associated printing blocks, so that Watanabe had to start all over again. On more than 400 woodcuts by Kawase it brought Watanabe to the death of the artist.
Style
Kawase Hasui became a master of atmosphere. Human figures appear rare and often isolated, yes, almost lonely, in his photographs. The Art Kawase is characterized by traditional landscapes and cityscapes. His views through all the seasons are always characterized by compositional clarity and poetic effect.
An example of this art Kawase is the color woodcut from the 1933 Sendai Yamadera Temple ( Mountain Temple in Sendai ), which found a buyer September 18, 2008 at Christie's in New York.