The Ruins of Fukuoka Castle (Fukuokajoshi)
by Kawase Hasui
- Date:
- 1940
- 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. Pre-war lifetime editions bearing the Watanabe copyright seal (A through G types, 1926–1944) are the most desirable.
Fukuoka Castle, the seat of the Kuroda clan's domain on Kyushu, survives today only as stone walls and a few turrets on the Maizuru Park hillside above Hakata Bay. Hasui's 1940 print shows the castle ruins in their park setting — the stone wall sections visible through maturing trees, the bay in the background. The castle ruins subjects in Hasui's late prewar period carried an implicit meditation on historical loss that gained a different resonance in the early postwar years.
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
The Ruins of Fukuoka Castle (Fukuokajoshi) was created by Kawase Hasui (川瀬巴水) in 1940.
The Ruins of Fukuoka Castle (Fukuokajoshi) was published by Watanabe Shozaburo (1940).
The Ruins of Fukuoka Castle (Fukuokajoshi) depicts castles.
