Shinkawa at Night (Yoru no Shinkawa), from the series Twelve Tokyo Subjects (Tokyo jûnidai), Taishô period, dated 1919

Medium:: Woodblock print
Source:: Harvard Art Museum
Image courtesy of: Harvard Art Museum

Description

Dated 1919 and published as part of the Twelve Tokyo Subjects (Tokyo jûnidai) series during the Taishō period, this early print of Shinkawa at night is among Hasui's first systematic treatments of Tokyo meisho-e. Produced under the patronage of publisher Watanabe Shōzaburō, who revived shin-hanga printmaking techniques, this work shows the Shinkawa canal rendered in a nocturnal palette of indigo, black, and amber. The 1919 date places it at a formative moment in Hasui's career, before the 1923 Great Kantō Earthquake destroyed much of the urban scenery he had documented. The warehouses, stone embankments, and reflected lamplight that define this composition belong to a Tokyo that no longer exists, giving the print documentary as well as aesthetic significance.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Shinkawa at Night (Yoru no Shinkawa), from the series Twelve Tokyo Subjects (Tokyo jûnidai), Taishô period, dated 1919 was created by Kawase Hasui (川瀬巴水).

Shinkawa at Night (Yoru no Shinkawa), from the series Twelve Tokyo Subjects (Tokyo jûnidai), Taishô period, dated 1919 depicts night scenes.