Kawase Hasui ( 1883 ~ 1957 )

Hasui Kawase (川瀬巴水), born as Bunjiro Kawase (川瀬文次郎) in 1883 in Tōkyō, was a significant artist of the shin-hanga (新版画) movement of the twentieth century. He studied Japanese-style painting at the studio of Kiyokata Kaburagi (清方鏑木) and briefly Western-style painting. After the family business failed, he decided to fully dedicate himself to art.
Hasui is known for his landscape prints, often depicting little-known rural and urban corners of Japan. He traveled extensively throughout the country, capturing scenic wonders with sketches and watercolor paintings, which then became the basis for his prints. His works evoke a sense of nostalgia for old Japan and respect traditional culture, emphasizing the beauty of the natural landscape. Hasui was particularly skilled in depicting snow, rain, and night scenes. Most of his works were published by Watanabe Shozaburo (渡辺庄三郎), the leading publisher of the shin-hanga movement. During the 1923 earthquake, Hasui lost all his woodblocks and over 200 sketches, but he continued to produce prints despite this devastation. In 1953, the Japanese government bestowed its highest artistic honor on him by commissioning a print titled "Snow at Zozoji Temple" and designating it as an Intangible Cultural Treasure.