Tsuktiben Jamir
Sotheby’s in New York is a private company famous for dealing in fine art and luxury items. From the 3rd to the 10th of May 2023, Sotheby will host their online auction ‘Landscape to City | Part II.’ From the remote reaches of the Japanese countryside to the busy centre of the city of Tokyo, the auction will feature woodblock prints by Japanese masters like Kawase Hasui, Yoshida Hiroshi, and Hashiguchi Goyo.
Courtesy: Sotheby’s.
Among the included artworks are pieces by members of the shin-hanga movement, also known as the Revival Print Movement in Japan, which was led by publisher Watanabe Shozaburo (1885–1962), who worked to revive the art form of woodblock printing. Some of Kawase Hasui’s first partnerships with Watanabe are on display at Hida Province’s Evening Snow at Sanjugen Canal and Nakayama-Shichiri Road. Yoshida Hiroshi’s large-format works, such as Rapids and Kumoi Cherry Tree, demonstrate some of the inventions and advances of their medium that shin-hanga artists of the early 20th century took seriously. Additionally, there are prints available in the auction by Tsuchiya Koitsu, Ishiwata Koitsu, and Ito Takashi, ranging from landscape to cityscape with historically romantic patterns for the season.
The early 20th-century shin-hanga prints also demonstrated the preoccupations of the artists with the traditional designs of Buddhist temples and shrines. These symbols of the built environment and centres of Japanese spirituality were drawn with utmost detail. ‘Shinto and Its Architecture’, written in 1936 by Akiyama Aisaburo for English-speaking readers, featured Kawase Hasui’s twelve tipped-in colour woodblock prints. Some of these artworks are also featured in Sotheby’s upcoming auction, which depicts beautiful and nostalgic snowy as well as rainy landscapes.
Courtesy: Sotheby’s.
Over the course of a forty-year career, Kawase Hasui (1883-1957), a key figure in the shin hanga movement, created over 600 woodblock prints. His work was mostly in the landscape genre, and his evocative portrayals of urban and rural settings filled with a broad variety of moods resonated with print enthusiasts of the time and still do now. Some of Kawase’s artworks from his series ‘Souvenirs of Travel, Third Series’ (1924) like ‘Nakayama-Shichiri Road in Hida Province’ and ‘Arifuku Hot Springs in Iwami’ are featured in the auction.
The Shin Hanga movement had its start in 1915 when Western and modern influences altered the ukiyo-e art style and this led to artists creating woodblock prints. The shin hanga Movement is a reflection of the fusion of Western and traditional Japanese cultures as well as the Westernisation of Japanese prints. The artworks in the auction are a collection of breath-taking landscape views; a window into the beautiful Japanese landscape, that depicts views of both the countryside as well as the city.
Exhibition dates and timings:
Wednesday, 3 May 2023 | 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM BST
Thursday, 4 May 2023 | 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM BST
Friday, 5 May 2023 | 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM BST
Tuesday, 9 May 2023 | 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM BST
Wednesday, 10 May 2023 | 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM BST
