Visions of Japan [Paperback]

Kawase Hasui (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 12, 2008 | ISBN-10: 9074822681 | ISBN-13: 978-9074822688 | Edition: annotated edition

Following on the success of the catalogue raisonné Kawase Hasui: The Complete Woodblock Prints published by Hotei Publishing in 2003, Visions of Japan: Kawase Hasuis Masterpieces brings together in a single volume one hundred of the artists most celebrated prints. Fully illustrated, this publication includes annotated descriptions for each work, as well as two essays on Hasuis life and work by Dr. Kendall H. Brown.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"One hundred woodblock prints of the 20th-century Japanese artist Hasui are cataloged in bright colors on large pages roughly 9" x 11." Captions for the hundred are grouped following the prints. With annotations which are comments by Hasui on the particular print or informative remarks by Narazaki Munishige, editor of a book on the artist's prints, the captions are instructive. Instructive too are two introductory essays by Kendall H. Brown. The first is on the Japanese cultural sources of Hasui's prints; the second focuses on Hasui's life and art. The succinct text with the appealing pictures of numerous prints offers an ideal introduction to and sampling of the woodblock prints by this outstanding Japanese artist who is regarded as one of the primary artists of the 20th-century Japanese art movement known as "New prints" (Shin-hanga)." --Midwest Book Review

Product Details

• Paperback: 152 pages
• Publisher: Hotei; annotated edition edition (November 12, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9074822681
• ISBN-13: 978-9074822688
• Product Dimensions: 11.4 x 8.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #429,340 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Visionary View of Climate and Culture, December 26, 2006

By 

Crazy Fox (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Visions of Japan (Paperback)

As art books go, this one gets it just about perfect. 100 of Kawase Hasui's prints, arranged in chronological order and finely reproduced with great care in full color and as large as the book's format will allow (the format being large enough to show off the prints to advantage without being unwieldy to hold and peruse). The text at the beginning by Kendall Brown is informative and helpful in better appreciating the prints, placing them within the context of the larger Shin-Hanga ("New Print") movement of the 20th century and tentatively explicating an aesthetics for this underappreciated art form--derided as it was (and is) by modernist artists and art critics for whom lyrical beauty and sentiment in art are passe and collaboration with engravers and publishers a damning compromise of principle. Brown goes on to focus more specifically on the life of the artist himself, his methods and practices, and his overall artistic development over the years. I especially liked how he was able to address issues of nostalgia, invented tradition, and cultural nationalism in Kawase's works without being reductive, politically trenchant, or dismissive of intrinsic artistic value.

And these prints definitely have the latter. Kawase is a master of evoking the quiet, tranquil moods of dusky twilight and drifting snow, of rainy days and moonlit nights. Both his rural and urban landscapes are imbued with these qualities, and places both famous and anonymous seem to shimmer with moods and resonances of an archetypal Japan you always wanted to visit but found only fleetingly when you actually went there--and in this too there is a subdued hint of something more universal and eternal still. And yet on a more down-to-earth level these are very accessible, nice scenic pictures that look great on calendars, postcards, and computer desktops. Esoteric and humble at the same time. But is it art? Close enough for me, anyway.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for the Price, March 10, 2006

By 

K. Taylor (CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Visions of Japan (Paperback)

My wife and I were very pleased with this book. The commentary was interesting and the numerous photos were of decent quality. A lot better than paying the $400 for the complete book by Brown. A nice book if you like Hasui and are on a normal budget.

39 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Introduction to leading 20th-century Japan printmaker, November 29, 2004

By 

Henry Berry "Henry Berry" (Southport, CT) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Visions of Japan (Paperback)

One hundred woodblock prints of the 20th-century Japanese artist Hasui are cataloged in bright colors on large pages roughly 9" x 11". Captions for the hundred are grouped following the prints. With annotations which are comments by Hasui on the particular print or informative remarks by Narazaki Munishige, editor of a book on the artist's prints, the captions are instructive. Instructive too are two introductory essays by Kendall H. Brown. The first is on the Japanese cultural sources of Hasui's prints; the second focuses on Hasui's life and art. The succinct text with the appealing pictures of numerous prints offers an ideal introduction to and sampling of the woodblock prints by this outstanding Japanese artist who is regarded as one of the primary artists of the 20th-century Japanese art movement known as "New prints" (Shin-hanga).