COLLECTION NAME:
Louis Black Collection of Japanese Prints
Record
Collection:
Louis Black Collection of Japanese Prints, Art History Dept, Cummings Arts Center, Connecticut College, New London
Artist:
HASUI
Culture:
Japan
Title:
Kintai Bridge on Spring Evening, Yamaguchi
Medium:
Woodcut
Dimensions (centimeters):
36 x 24 cm
Primary Subject:
landscape
Secondary Subject:
water
Tertiary Subject:
boats
Donor:
Louis Black, 1955
Description:
boat emerging below wooden arching bridge, pink flowered plant in foreground
“As a relatively inexperienced print designer, Hasui showed his
sketches to the prominent publisher, Watanabe Shōzaburō. Impressed by
Hasui’s natural talent, Watanabe encouraged the artist to concentrate on
landscapes, particularly traditional scenes of Japan. Hasui’s extensive travels
to remote parts of the country allowed him to create the tranquil and partly
idealized landscapes for which he became well known.6 The prints produced
out of Hasui and Watanabe’s collaboration captured the Western eye because
they provided foreign buyers with the fantasy of an exotic, still feudal Japan. Indigenous to Japan, cherry blossoms add to the traditional nature of
most shin-hanga prints. In Kintai Bridge on Spring Evening, Hasui forces the
viewer to observe the print through a sea of pink cherry blossoms. What might
otherwise be a stereotypical image of either a Japanese bridge or cherry
blossoms, the bridge set against the iconic flowers, boldly depicted in the
foreground, infuse the scene with energy, color, and perspective. While the
cherry blossom may simply seem like a beautiful flower to Westerners, it
holds special meaning in Japan. Called sakura, the cherry blossom often
symbolizes life, death, and rebirth. Cherry blossoms are particularly poignant
during times of war due to their nationalistic symbolism. While many Western
buyers may have simply liked the beauty of the idyllic cherry, in reality,
sakura infused prints of this period with a strong patriotic sentiment.” --Sydney LaBlonde ‘08
“As a relatively inexperienced print designer, Hasui showed his
sketches to the prominent publisher, Watanabe Shōzaburō. Impressed by
Hasui’s natural talent, Watanabe encouraged the artist to concentrate on
landscapes, particularly traditional scenes of Japan. Hasui’s extensive travels
to remote parts of the country allowed him to create the tranquil and partly
idealized landscapes for which he became well known.6 The prints produced
out of Hasui and Watanabe’s collaboration captured the Western eye because
they provided foreign buyers with the fantasy of an exotic, still feudal Japan. Indigenous to Japan, cherry blossoms add to the traditional nature of
most shin-hanga prints. In Kintai Bridge on Spring Evening, Hasui forces the
viewer to observe the print through a sea of pink cherry blossoms. What might
otherwise be a stereotypical image of either a Japanese bridge or cherry
blossoms, the bridge set against the iconic flowers, boldly depicted in the
foreground, infuse the scene with energy, color, and perspective. While the
cherry blossom may simply seem like a beautiful flower to Westerners, it
holds special meaning in Japan. Called sakura, the cherry blossom often
symbolizes life, death, and rebirth. Cherry blossoms are particularly poignant
during times of war due to their nationalistic symbolism. While many Western
buyers may have simply liked the beauty of the idyllic cherry, in reality,
sakura infused prints of this period with a strong patriotic sentiment.” --Sydney LaBlonde ‘08
