Shinto Shrine of Kasuga at Nara
Artist: Kawase Hasui
Name: Shinto Shrine of Kasuga at Nara
Date: 1933
Description: Wednesday, 26 November 2008 Hasui’s Unknown “Shinto Shrine of Kasuga at Nara” Print (ca1933-35) To collectors of Japanese woodblock prints by the artist KAWASE Hasui, the striking 1933 summertime image titled “Kasuga Shrine at Nara” (“Nara Kasuga Jinsha”) published by Watanabe Publisher is quite well known (Narazaki #222). As such, it is among the handful of highly sought-after “red temple images” coveted by these collectors (see below, right). Much rarer, however, is the seemingly undocumented and very seldom seen “look-alike” print published by Shimbi Shoin Publisher (below, left) titled “Shinto Shrine of Kasuga at Nara” (ca1933-35). So apparently rare is this largely “unknown” Hasui print, that it is NOT listed in the comprensive 1979 catalogue raisonn・of Hasui’s works, the “Narazaki reference,” titled in Japanese as “Kawase Hasui Mokuhangashu” (“The Complete Works of Kawase Hasui”). Further supporting the apparent rarity of this “Shinto Shrine of Kasuga at Nara” print is the fact that we have previously seen ONLY one other copy first-hand.
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