Artist: Kawase Hasui 川瀬 巴水 (1883-1957)
Title: Morning at Mito Beach 三津浜の朝 Date: 1953
Hasui’s unforced and brilliantly peaceful symmetry is on full display in this delightful view. We somehow feel like these wooden boats personify us, the viewer, at rest from our labors and admiring the beautiful view of Mount Fuji in the distance. The small island in the middle distance echoes the triangular shape of the great Fuji. In the far right are clusters of small buildings and a single sailboat. Today this preindustrial view is gone; the charming wooden boats and stone quay replaced by modern fishing vessels and piers, and many less beautiful postwar buildings cluttering the scene all around. Its current popularity is assured due to this beach being featured in the anime “Love Live Sunshine”, where its look is rosy-tinged with nostalgia. With perfect, unfaded colors that are a must for this design, especially the bright spring green of the water in the middle distance. With the round Watanabe seal that makes this a first edition.
Condition: Excellent impression, color and condition. Mint.
Dimensions: ôban (39 x 26.3 cm)
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo
Literature: See LACMA, Art Institute of Chicago. Brown/Hotei #588. Seal: Kawase
Signature: Hasui
SKU: HAC588H
