Autumn at Oirase
by Kawase Hasui
- Date:
- June 1933
- Medium:
- Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
- Format:
- Oban
- Dimensions:
- 36.5 × 24.1 cm
by Kawase Hasui
Autumn foliage subjects by Hasui are popular but trade at a slight discount to his snow and rain scenes — the seasonal color is inherently pleasing but less technically demanding than atmospheric precipitation effects. Pre-war lifetime editions command the strongest premiums; combined subjects (autumn foliage with rain, twilight, or temple architecture) approach rain and night scene pricing. Pre-war lifetime editions bearing the Watanabe copyright seal (A through G types, 1926–1944) are the most desirable.
Autumn at Oirase, published in June 1933 (the date likely indicating print release rather than depicted season), depicts the Oirase gorge in Aomori Prefecture — one of Japan's most celebrated river gorge landscapes, where the Oirase River runs fourteen kilometers through moss-covered beech forest from Lake Towada to the lowland plain. In autumn, the gorge's maples and beeches turn gold, orange, and scarlet, making the tree-shaded river one of the most intensely colorful seasonal destinations in the Tohoku. Hasui's composition likely captures the gorge's characteristic quality: water threading through boulders beneath an arching canopy of autumn color.
Noka no aki (Miyagi ken Ayashi
1946
Color woodblock print
Woodblock print
1950
Color woodblock print
Autumn 1920
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Autumn at Oirase was created by Kawase Hasui (川瀬巴水) in June 1933.
Autumn at Oirase uses Bokashi, on woodblock print, ink and color on paper.
Autumn at Oirase was published by Watanabe Shozaburo (June 1933).
Autumn at Oirase depicts autumn foliage.
Autumn at Oirase measures 36.5 × 24.1 cm (Oban format).
