Frosty Morning at Nagaoka, Izu (Izu Nagaoka no Asa)
by Kawase Hasui
by Kawase Hasui
Edition period is the primary value driver for Hasui prints. Pre-war lifetime editions with the Watanabe copyright seal (A through D types) consistently achieve 3–5× the price of posthumous reprints of the same design. Condition is the second key factor — unfaded colors, full margins, and absence of foxing or staining are essential. Subject matter (snow > rain > night > other) provides a further modifier within each edition tier.
Frosty Morning at Nagaoka in Izu, published in February 1939, depicts the inland hot spring resort town of Nagaoka in present-day Izu City, Shizuoka Prefecture — a warm-spring spa town in the hills west of the Izu Peninsula's main ridge — on a cold February morning when frost whitens the rooftops and the bare vegetation of the surrounding hillside. The juxtaposition of the warm spa town (where steam from the hot springs would have been particularly visible in the cold air) with the frosty exterior landscape gave Hasui an unusual thermal subject: warmth visible as steam rising from the town while cold frost covers the surrounding ground.
Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Woodblock print
1934
Color woodblock print; oban
n.d.
Woodblock print; ishizuri-e, section of harimaze sheet
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frosty Morning at Nagaoka, Izu (Izu Nagaoka no Asa) was created by Kawase Hasui (川瀬巴水) in February 1939.
Frosty Morning at Nagaoka, Izu (Izu Nagaoka no Asa) was published by Watanabe Shozaburo (February 1939).
Frosty Morning at Nagaoka, Izu (Izu Nagaoka no Asa) depicts landscapes, snow scenes, and winter.
