HASUI KAWASE

HASUI KAWASE

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SUNDAY Feature on ART of Architecture -by Gautam Shah  

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Hasui Kawase (1883-1957) was a Japanese artist, famous for his wood block prints (from 1919). At the studio of Kiyokata Kaburagi, he concentrated on making watercolours of actors, everyday life and landscapes. Kawase also studied ukiyo-e and Japanese style painting. He worked almost exclusively on landscape and town scape prints, based on sketches he made in Tokyo and during travels around Japan. He travelled the Hokuriku, San'in, and San'yō regions later in 1923. He also produced oil paintings, traditional hanging scrolls and a few byōbu (folding screens). He was one of the most prominent print designers of the shin-hanga (‘new prints’) movement.

Kawase's prints feature realist locales that are tranquil and obscure in urban Japan. His art combines both the Japanese traditions and essence of western art compositions. He rendered his scene in natural light and with low contrast. He had a liking for rains, snow and twilight of early evening.

 In 1956, the Japanese government’s Committee for the Preservation of Intangible Cultural Heritage designated Zojo Temple in Snow, as Intangible Cultural Treasures. He was named a Living National Treasure in Japan..