Shiragashi Castle (Shiragashijo)
by Kawase Hasui
- Date:
- 1948
- Medium:
- Color woodblock print
- Format:
- Oban
- Publisher:
- Watanabe Shozaburo
- Edition:
- Published by Watanabe Shozaburo
- Source:
- Art Institute of Chicago
by Kawase Hasui
Castle subjects by Hasui draw collectors interested in historic Japanese architecture. Himeji Castle, as Japan's most celebrated surviving original structure, consistently performs well — lifetime editions bring $800–$3,000. Seasonal variants (cherry blossoms, snow) of castle subjects command premiums over plain architectural views. Postwar lifetime editions (1946–1957) bearing the small 6mm J-seal represent authentic lifetime impressions but from the artist's final decade.
Shiragashi Castle (Shirogashijo) in Ibaraki Prefecture was a feudal castle of the Yuki clan, its remains consisting of earthworks and stone foundations on a forested hill. This 1948 print likely shows the castle ruins in autumn — the earthworks and surviving walls visible through autumn foliage, the forest on the hillside in seasonal color. Castle ruins were a recurrent subject in Hasui's postwar output, the themes of historical loss and nature reclaiming human construction acquiring new resonance after the war's devastation.
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Shiragashi Castle (Shiragashijo) was created by Kawase Hasui (川瀬巴水) in 1948.
Shiragashi Castle (Shiragashijo) was published by Watanabe Shozaburo (1948).
Shiragashi Castle (Shiragashijo) depicts castles.
