Born in Tokyo, Kawase Hasui was a master of Japanese landscape prints. He began his journey as an illustrator for books and magazines but soon discovered his heart belonged to printmaking. In 1918, he began creating Shin-hanga (new prints) and designed more than 600 prints during the following 40 years.
This exhibition in the Works on Paper Gallery is curated by Li Jian, E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Curator of East Asian Art, and features 14 prints. The works are drawn from René and Carolyn Balcer’s 2017 gift to VMFA. The Balcers have been donating works from their collection to the museum for more than a decade.
IMAGES Morning in Beppu (detail), from the series Japanese Sceneries, 1922, Kawase Hasui (Japanese, 1883-1957), woodblock print; ink and color on paper. René and Carolyn Balcer Collection, 2017.535
Cormorant Fishing, Nagara River (detail), 1954, Kawase Hasui (Japanese, 1883–1957), carved by Namikawa Siezo, printed by Horikawa Shōzaburō, published by Watanabe Shōzaburō (Japanese, 1885–1962), ink and color on paper. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, René and Carolyn Balcer Collection