Hasui Kawase

Hasui Kawase wanted to be an artist rather than a merchant

Hasui Kawase was born in Tokyo on 18 May 1883. The dream of a career as an artist already lay at his feet: His maternal uncle was the writer and journalist Kanagaki Robun (Nozaki Buzō, 1829-1894), who published the world’s first manga magazine, and the son of a merchant family took painting lessons from an early age from Aoyagi Bokusen, made sketches after nature, copied the woodblock prints of old masters, and learned brush painting from Araki Kanyu. However, Hasui Kawase’s parents dismissed their son’s artistic ambitions and instead forced Hasui to take over the direction of the family business. The marriage of his sister Aya to a shop assistant brought further tension to the situation and it was not until the bankruptcy of his parents’ thread and rope wholesale business that the path became open for Hasui to pursue his aspired career. At the age of 26, he requested admission to the studio of the traditional master Kaburagi Kiyokata (1878-1972), but the latter suggested that he first learn the Western style of painting.  

A master in the art of Japanese colour woodblock prints

Hasui Kawase studied Western painting with Okada Saburōsuke and two years later applied once again to Kaburagi Kiyokata’s studio – this time with success. Kiyokata gave the young painter - who was actually called Bunjiro – the now familiar name Hasui, which roughly means ‘water bubbling from a stream’ After being greatly impressed by a visit to an exhibition of works by the painter Shinsui Itō, Hasui Kawase contacted the latter’s publisher Shōzaburō Watanabe, from whom he initially received a commission to design three experimental prints. Watanabe is considered the founder of the Shin-Hanga movement of which Kawase became one of its great masters. Through his generous financial support, he significantly contributed to ensuring that the tradition-rich art of Japanese woodblock printing was not lost, as it had come under severe pressure from the development of modern printing methods and photography. Hasui worked successfully with Watanabe throughout his whole life.

A sense of atmosphere and considerable innovative power

Hasui Kawase demonstrated a particular flair for atmosphere with his woodcut prints for which he used primarily sketches and watercolours of landscapes and cities views as models which he produced on his travels through Japan. Figures are only found sporadically in Hasui’s pictures and usually appear lost and lonely. His numerous snow scenes are considered his most original and best works, for which he created new types of carving forms of considerable innovation to illustrate the falling snow. His demanding ideas, however, were not always met with undivided enthusiasm by the craftsmen who carried them out. Hasui saw himself as a representative of realism and, despite his awareness of tradition, always drew on the fund of Western painting techniques that he had learnt in his youth. 

Hasui Kawase died on 7 November 1957.