Japanese Woodblock Print, 1929, very early edition published by Sakai and Kawaguchi, with both publisher's names in the bottom margin, the S&K Chrysanthemum and running water seal in the lower left corner; and the printer carver stacked rectangular cartouches in the left margin

SIZE IN INCHES: oban, approx. 10.5 x 15.25

COMMENTS: Early editions of Sakai and Kawaguchi prints are very rare.

Known as the "Thousand Arms Temple" Kiyomizu-do scarcely evaded the conflagration during the civil war of 1868 to survive today in senic Ueno Park, Tokyo. It was constructed in 1631 to pay homage to the Kannon of the 1,000 arms, and was modeled after the famous Kiyomizu temple in Kyoto. Couples who want to have children traditionally pray here, and the dolls on view inside represent gratitude from those who became fertile after praying to Kannon's image.

KAWASE HASUI (1883-1957) was a Japanese woodblock print maker in the early 20th century. He and Hiroshi Yoshida (1876-1950) are widely regarded as two of the greatest artists of the shin hanga style, and are known especially for their excellent landscape prints. During the forty years of his artistic career, Hasui worked closely with Watanabe Shozaburo (1885-1962), publisher and advocate of the shin hanga movement. His works became widely known in the West through American connoisseur Robert O. Muller (1911-2003). In 1956, he was named a Living National Treasure in Japan.

Hasui worked almost exclusively on landscape and townscape prints based on sketches he made in Tokyo and during travels around Japan. However, his prints are not merely meisho (famous places) prints that are typical of earlier ukiyo-e masters such as Hiroshige and Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849). Hasui’s prints feature locale that are tranquil and obscure in the then-urbanizing Japan. The dreamlike quality in Hasui’s prints epitomizes a yearning for the past and a preservation of the past in the midst of rapid modernization.

VG minor flaws as shown