Evening at Miyajima

This second variant of the Miyajima evening composition belongs to the extended group of Hasui's treatments of the Itsukushima torii gate at dusk. Variant editions across Hasui's career were common for highly popular subjects; they typically show the same essential composition reprinted from the same key block but with revised color blocks producing altered sky tones, water colors, or overall atmospheric temperature. In this version, the balance of warm and cool tones in the sky and their degree of reflection in the water below likely differs from the primary edition. The vermilion gate rising from tidal waters, set against an evening sky rendered through careful bokashi gradation, represents Hasui at his most technically assured—the vertical architecture stabilizing a composition built from atmospheric color and reflected light.