Tega Marsh (Teganuma)

Date:: 1930
Medium:: Color woodblock print
Format:: Oban
Publisher:: Watanabe Shozaburo
Edition:: Published by Watanabe Shozaburo
Source:: Art Institute of Chicago

Typical Price

River, lake, and coastal scenes form the largest single category in Hasui's output — steady, popular subjects with consistent demand. Value is driven primarily by edition period (pre-war vs. postwar lifetime vs. posthumous), condition, and the presence of seasonal atmospheric effects. Night and rain variants of water scenes command 20–40% premiums over comparable daytime views. Pre-war lifetime editions bearing the Watanabe copyright seal (A through G types, 1926–1944) are the most desirable.

Pre-war lifetime edition (Watanabe seal): $800–$3,000
Postwar lifetime edition (J-seal): $350–$1,200
Posthumous/Heisei edition: $150–$500

Description

Teganuma (Tega Marsh) in Chiba Prefecture is a large freshwater lake east of Tokyo in the Tone River drainage basin, once famous for lotus beds and wildfowl. Hasui's 1930 print likely shows the marsh in its wide, flat aspect — an expanse of open water with reed margins and a low horizon that gave him the horizontal sky-and-water composition he favored for Japan's lowland lakes. Teganuma's flat, windswept character was quite different from the mountain-surrounded lakes of his highland subjects.