Hasui Kawase

HASUI KAWASE (1883-1957).
"Torii on Lake Chuzenji".
Woodcut.
Work published by Watanabe, c. 1930.
Presents original envelope and advertising brochure.
Measurements: 9.5 x 14.5 cm.
This Japanese woodcut, attributed to Kawase Hasui, is known as Snow in Miyajima or identified in some editions as Torii on Lake Chuzenji, shows a red torii emerging next to the water, surrounded by pine trees covered with snow while the flakes fall with an almost imperceptible cadence. Everything about the composition conveys stillness, balance and a deep connection with nature.
Hasui was one of the most influential figures of the shin-hanga movement, which revamped traditional Japanese printmaking by incorporating a modern sensibility without renouncing artisanal technique. In this work, originally executed around 1929 or early 1930s, the artist achieves a masterful synthesis of atmosphere, color and emotion. The subtlety of the winter blue, the contrasting red of the torii and the snow suspended in the air reveal his extraordinary ability to capture landscapes not just as places, but as states.
Whether evoking the celebrated Itsukushima shrine in Miyajima or the landscapes of Lake Chuzenji in Nikko, the image embodies one of the great values of Hasui's art: its poetic universality. Subsequent editions, produced in the 1950s and 1960s, consolidated this print as one of the most prized in Japanese woodcut collecting.