Rainy Night in Maekawa, Soshu

Artist

Kawase Hasui (Japanese, 1883-1957)

Date

1932

Medium

Woodblock print

Dimensions

Sheet/image : 15 1/4 x 10 1/2 in. (38.74 x 26.67 cm)

Credit Line

Gift of Arthur and Kristine Rossof

Object Number

2016.64.7

Label

Kawase Hasui was a leading artist in the Shin Hanga (New Print) movement, which aimed to preserve and modernize traditional Japanese woodcut printmaking in the face of competition from photography, lithography and other methods of image making imported from the West. Hasui specialized in landscapes and architectural subjects, which he enjoyed portraying in different lighting and atmospheric conditions. His picturesque prints were extremely popular in Japan, Europe and North America during the 1920s and 30s, and the re-issue of some of his best-selling images in the 1940s and 50s helped improve popular perceptions of Japan among Europeans and Americans in the years after World War Two.