Anémonés et fleurs de champs dans un verre a facettes / Bouquet sur fond de dentelle

Anémones et fleurs de champs dans un verre à facettes / Bouquet sur fond de dentelle is a print by Kiyoshi Hasegawa, dated 1945 and produced in the elaborate intaglio idiom for which the artist became one of the most accomplished Japanese practitioners of the twentieth century. Born in Yokohama in 1891, Hasegawa moved to Paris in 1918 and remained in France for the rest of his career, becoming a member of the Société des Peintres-Graveurs Français and developing a virtuoso command of etching, drypoint, mezzotint, and the manière noire technique to which his name remains closely associated. The compound title links two compositions: anemones and field flowers arranged in a faceted glass vase, and a second bouquet set against a background of lace. Both motifs belong to the still-life tradition that occupied much of Hasegawa's mature output, in which transparent vessels, cut and faceted glass, woven textiles, and seasonal flowers furnished the artist with subjects of extreme tonal delicacy. The mezzotint, manière noire, and drypoint procedures allow him to register the play of light across faceted glass, the pattern of lace, and the soft petals of anemones in a continuous tonal range from deep velvety blacks to luminous whites. The 1945 date situates the work at the end of the Occupation period in Paris, a moment of personal continuity for the artist who had remained in Europe through the war. The impression discussed here is documented through the Artsy listing for the print on the secondary market (https://www.artsy.net/artwork/kiyoshi-hasegawa-anemones-et-fleurs-de-champs-dans-un-verre-a-facettes-slash-bouquet-sur-fond-de-dentelle), which preserves a record of this design among Hasegawa's celebrated still-life prints.