Hanga
The Garden in Autumn, from an untitled series of views of the Mitsubishi villa in Fukagawa by Kawase Hasui — Japanese Woodblock print

The Garden in Autumn, from an untitled series of views of the Mitsubishi villa in Fukagawa

by Kawase Hasui

Medium:
Woodblock print
Image courtesy of
Museum of Fine Arts Boston

Description

This print belongs to an untitled private series depicting the grounds of the Mitsubishi family villa in Fukagawa, an eastern district of Tokyo associated with the fortunes of the Iwasaki family, founders of the Mitsubishi zaibatsu. Such villa garden prints were occasionally produced as presentation works rather than for commercial sale, giving them a more intimate character than Hasui's published series. An autumn garden composition would feature the intense red and orange foliage of Japanese maple trees (momiji), possibly reflected in a strolling garden pond, alongside stone lanterns or stepping stones. The Abstract subject classification reflects the emphasis on color and pattern over topographic description—autumn foliage in Japanese prints frequently reduces the landscape to arrangements of saturated warm color against dark conifer green. Producing the layered gradations of green, yellow, orange, and crimson required to capture momiji season was among the more demanding coloristic challenges in the shin-hanga woodblock repertoire.

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Frequently Asked Questions

The Garden in Autumn, from an untitled series of views of the Mitsubishi villa in Fukagawa was created by Kawase Hasui (川瀬巴水).

The Garden in Autumn, from an untitled series of views of the Mitsubishi villa in Fukagawa depicts abstract.