Collection: Japanese Print Posters and Art by Hasui Kawase: Shin-hanga Reproductions

This collection gathers Japanese print posters and art prints created from the work of Hasui Kawase (1883–1957), a major figure in 20th-century Japanese graphic art. Each piece is a faithful reproduction of the original woodblock prints belonging to the shin-hanga ("new prints") movement. Through this set of landscape illustrations, the artist explores variations of light, nocturnal atmospheres, and rural or urban scenes of Japan. These prints offer a rediscovery of a remarkable iconographic heritage stemming from the modernized ukiyo-e tradition.

As an essential player in the renewal of Japanese printmaking under the impetus of publisher Watanabe Shōzaburō, Hasui Kawase traveled the archipelago to compose over six hundred landscape plates. His work is part of the cultural context of the Taishō and Shōwa eras, marking the transition between the classical ukiyo-e tradition and Western aesthetic influences. The featured prints favor the poetry of the seasons, capturing temples at dusk, snowy streets, moonlit coastlines, and misty countrysides. The mastery of color gradients and the care given to perspective impart a contemplative depth and great documentary rigor to these compositions. Recognized as a Living National Treasure in 1956, the artist left a body of work testifying to Japanese topography and daily life in the first half of the 20th century.

The visual and thematic coherence of this collection offers a comprehensive view of the shin-hanga movement and Hasui Kawase's perspective on changing landscapes. These reproductions of antique prints in poster form are intended for lovers of Asian art, print historians, and enthusiasts of Japanese iconography alike. They naturally find their place in a workspace, a library, a personal gallery, or a heritage- and culture-focused interior. As visual supports derived from a structured artistic corpus, these prints highlight the graphic richness, balance of forms, and poetic sensibility of a major work of Japanese landscape art.