Distant Clouds over the Sea (Kaijo un'en)
by Kawase Hasui
- Date:
- 1935
- Medium:
- Color woodblock print; oban
- Format:
- Oban
- Publisher:
- Watanabe Shozaburo
- Edition:
- Published by Watanabe Shozaburo
- Source:
- Art Institute of Chicago
by Kawase Hasui
River, lake, and coastal scenes form the largest single category in Hasui's output — steady, popular subjects with consistent demand. Value is driven primarily by edition period (pre-war vs. postwar lifetime vs. posthumous), condition, and the presence of seasonal atmospheric effects. Night and rain variants of water scenes command 20–40% premiums over comparable daytime views. Pre-war lifetime editions bearing the Watanabe copyright seal (A through G types, 1926–1944) are the most desirable.
Distant Clouds over the Sea (Kaijo un'en), published in 1935, depicts an open seascape with clouds building on the horizon — a subject of unusual meteorological focus in Hasui's catalog, where the sea itself (kaijo) and the distant cloud formations (un'en, literally "cloud smoke") rather than any landmark or architectural element compose the entire visual field. This pure seascape subject represents Hasui at his most atmospherically abstract, the graduated sky and open water demanding the full mastery of his [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) technique to render the tonal progression from dark sea through the graduated sky to the cloud-formations at the horizon.
1940
Woodblock print
1934
Color woodblock print; oban
Boshu Taikai
1925
Color woodblock print; oban
September 1931
Color woodblock print; oban
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Distant Clouds over the Sea (Kaijo un'en) was created by Kawase Hasui (川瀬巴水) in 1935.
Distant Clouds over the Sea (Kaijo un'en) was published by Watanabe Shozaburo (1935).
Distant Clouds over the Sea (Kaijo un'en) depicts seascapes.
