Mount Fuji at Daybreak (Fuji no akebono)

Date:: n.d.
Medium:: Color woodblock print
Format:: Oban
Publisher:

Edition:

Published by Watanabe Shozaburo

Source:

Typical Price

Mount Fuji subjects carry steady collector interest driven by the mountain's iconic status — the universal shorthand for Japan in Western collections. Hasui's Fuji views are more varied than Hiroshige's canonical series, often featuring the mountain from unusual lakeside or riverside perspectives. Combined subjects (Fuji with snow, rain, or moonlight) command the highest premiums within this category.

Pre-war lifetime edition (Watanabe seal): $1,200–$4,000
Postwar lifetime edition (J-seal): $500–$1,800
Posthumous/Heisei edition: $200–$700

Description

Mount Fuji at Daybreak (Fuji no akebono), undated, depicts the sacred volcano in the pre-dawn or early dawn light when the sky transitions from the last darkness of night through the deep blue of nautical twilight to the first pale gold of sunrise — the akebono (dawning) that Japanese aesthetics associated with the most poignant transitional quality of light. The akebono Fuji subject required Hasui to capture a sky in continuous gradual change: from deep indigo through purple to rose and gold, with the mountain's silhouette darkening against the brightening sky. This undated composition is one of several treatments of Fuji's dawn light in his catalog.