Nagare Pleasure Quarter, Kanazawa (Kanazawa Nagare no kuruwa), from the series Souvenirs of Travel, First Series (Tabi miyage dai isshū)

Kawase HasuiWW-1920-101802

1920·Color woodblock print·38.4 × 26 cm (15 1/8 × 10 1/4 in.)

<p>This print features the Nagare Pleasure Quarter, an entertainment district in Kanazawa, a city in central Japan. About the design, Kawase Hasui said: “Someone once said that Kanazawa is the 'Kyoto of the North.’ In that sense I truly believe that Kanazawa has a good feel about it. I depicted the Asano River and the Ume Bridge enveloped in a heavy mist on a morning in early autumn. It was difficult technically to convey the mood of the row of pines and the distant wood, as well as the area where the mist drifts down towards the riverbank.”</p>

Catalogue

Year: 1920
Medium: Color woodblock print
Dimensions: 38.4 × 26 cm (15 1/8 × 10 1/4 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: Kawase Hasui

Artist

Kawase Hasui

Printmaking

Kawase Hasui was a Japanese woodblock printmaker specializing in landscape and travel scenes during the early twentieth century. Working in the shin-hanga tradition, he created atmospheric compositions of rural Japan, coastal views, and seasonal phenomena using bold compositional framing and a restrained palette of blues, greens, and earth tones. His prints capture nocturnal and weather-dependent moments, emphasizing mood over topographical detail. Hasui's approach bridged Edo-period ukiyo-e conventions with modernist sensibilities of line and negative space.

Japan

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