Kasamatsu Shiro – Kinokunizaka in the Rainy Season

The current print is offered on behalf of a long-time Dutch collector. This does not change anything for customers wishing to buy, except that the print will only be available for a fixed period of time.

Original woodblock print. The first edition of this design was published in 1938. The current print is from an early, post-war edition, carrying the Watanabe 6mm seal.

A beautiful rain scene by Kasamatsu Shiro. A woman and a child walk by, protecting themselves from the rain with umbrellas. Towering above them is an asymmetric, magnificent old tree, remotely echoing the shape and effect of the umbrellas.

The strength of the rain varies between different prints of this design, but seems particularly strong in the current impression, and neither the umbrellas nor the tree seem capable of stopping the torrential rain entirely.

Image size (excluding margins): 36.0 * 24.0 cm (14.2 * 9.4 in).

The print is in very good state, with excellent colors. There are two pinholes in the left margin and very slight matburn at the outer edges of the margins. On the back, a small note has been written in pencil.

The pictures shown here are from the print itself.

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Kasamatsu Shiro (1898-1991) was a prolific and famous woodblock artist. When only aged thirteen he started as an apprentice. He could trace part of his artistic lineage back via Kaburagi and Yoshitoshi, connecting him to the great Ukiyo-e masters of the 19th century.

He created many prints in the Shin-Hanga style. Many of these depicted traditional themes like landscapes and temples, but within that Shiro displayed great diversity. His prints in the period of 1952-1960 in this style were very successful. This enabled him to experiment and he started working in the Sōsaku-Hanga (creative prints) movement as well, not only designing but also carving and printing himself.

An overview of the woodblock prints by Kasamatsu Shiro can be found here.

See an overview of Kasamatsu Shiro's woodblock prints