Kawase Hasui

An advantage for current woodblock print enthusiasts is that the woodblocks for some of Kawase Hasui's designs have survived to this day and continue to be printed occasionally. In this way, the nature of the woodblock print medium has enabled Kawase Hasui to even posthumously drive the creation of new art pieces well into the 21st century.

With this, Kawase Hasui's prints can very broadly be divided into two categories: earlier and recent editions. Prices for both have been steadily rising, but unsurprisingly it is the early editions that command the highest prices. Some of these designs are from before the 1923 earthquake, and have not been printed since, due to the loss of their original woodblocks in the disaster. Others were designed and printed afterwards, both during the lifetime of Kawase Hasui and posthumously. Depending on the design, time of printing, quality of the impression, state of the woodblocks at the time, prevalence of surviving prints, their state, and many other factors, such prints have been breaking records at auctions in recent years.

The second broad category consists of recent editions. Though more affordable, there are unavoidable limits to their availability. Kawase Hasui's designs are challenging to print, requiring a highly skilled printer, and even then it takes significant time to complete all impressions. Only three publishers that worked with Kawase Hasui are still successfully printing his works, and all three hold a high standard, preferring higher-quality prints in more limited quantities over increases in numbers.

Recent editions might be considered more suitable for display or collection in larger numbers, and earlier, especially lifetime editions, could be considered too rare for prolonged display. At nipponprints.com we offer both categories of Kawase Hasui prints for sale. In case you have Kawase Hasui prints you wish to sell, we are also interested in hearing from you.

For further reading and a good overview of Kawase Hasui prints, the go-to work is Kendall Brown and Amy Reigle's Kawase Hasui: The Complete Woodblock Prints, published by Hotei. For more concise but more affordable works, we recommend Kendall Brown's Water and Shadow: Kawase Hasui and Japanese Landscape Prints or Visions of Japan: Kawase Hasui's Masterpieces.