Gosho Ningyö (Palace Doll)
Artist: Kawase Hasui
Name: Gosho Ningyö (Palace Doll)
Date: c. 1930
Source: Honolulu Museum of Art
Description: Towards the end of the Meiji period (1868-1912), two distinct movements in printmaking arose: Shin Hanga (New Prints), a renewal of traditional collaborative printmaking, and Sösaku Hanga (Creative Prints), in which prints are made by a single person. Kawase Hasui was a Shin Hanga artist. In Shin Hanga production, the publisher functions as a conductor, who coordinates all print making procedures. The painter, carver, and printer are talented technicians who should be able to produce what the publisher wants, as in the traditional Edo period ukiyo-e making. Therefore, Hasui’s prints are often compared to beautiful music played by a skillful orchestra. (from “Doll! Doll! Doll! / Kawase Hasui” exhibition, 2/14/2003-)