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Edutainment > Articles on Art > Shin Hanga > Shiro Kasamatsu 1898-1991

Cherry Blossoms at Heian Jingu Shrine

Shiro Kasamatsu 1898-1992
1937
Woodblock Print

Shiro Kasamatsu created prints in shin hanga style for the publisher Watanabe Shozaburo. During the last years Kasamatsu prints have developed to some kind of insiders' tip for collectors of Japanese prints and art lovers.

Student of Kaburagi Kiyokata

Shiro Kasamatsu was born in Tokyo in 1898. At the age of 13 he entered the painting school of Kaburagi Kiyokata - a master in traditional Japanese painting and printmaking. Kasamatsu was very talented, and beginning at a young age, his paintings were shown in various exhibitions.

Shin Hanga Prints for Watanabe Shozaburo

Cherry Blossom Viewing

Shiro Kasamatsu 1898-1992
1935
Woodblock Print

When the publisher Watanabe Shozaburo saw one of Kasamatsu's paintings, he was impressed and convinced the young artist to make designs for woodblock prints. This was the beginning of a long and fruitful cooperation which started in 1919. By the late 1940s Kasamatsu had created more than 50 prints commissioned and published by Watanabe. In the great earthquake of 1923 the blocks of all Kasamatsu prints were lost forever, when fires raged for three days and destroyed Watanabe's print shop.

Another famous student of Kaburagi Kiyokata was Kawase Hasui. Also Hasui became a very close cooperation partner for Watanabe's circle of shin hanga artists. Kaburagi Kiyokata was certainly the one who introduced Kawase Hasui, Ito Shinsui, Kasamatsu and others to Watanabe.

From Watanabe to Unsodo

Pine in Rain

Shiro Kasamatsu 1898-1992
1938
Woodblock Print

In the early 1950s Shiro Kasamatsu changed his publisher partner to Unsodo in Kyoto. Until 1960 the artist created nearly 100 prints for Unsodo. The prints designed for Unsodo are nearly exclusively in Shin Hanga style and show traditional subjects - mostly landscapes and a few interior scenes in soft colors. Like Kawase Hasui, also Kasamatsu shows his true mastership in night, rain and in snow scenes.

From Shin Hanga to Sosaku Hanga

Flower Shower

Shiro Kasamatsu 1898-1992
1939
Woodblock Print

At the same time, Shiro Kasamatsu started experimenting in Sosaku Hanga style - self-carved, self-printed and self-published. The style of these self-published prints is clearly sosaku hanga style - more modern, more Western-like, less refined, more original. The subjects are landscapes, many kacho-e - prints that show birds and flowers.

The development of Kasamatsu's printmaking style shows a similarity to a contemporary of him - Tomikichiro Tokuriki from Kyoto. Also Tomikichiro created sosaku hanga while he published works in shin hanga style with Uchida and Unsodo from Kyoto.

The explanation for this parallel creation of two different styles of woodblock prints is simple. The prints in shin hanga style assured a steady income, while the works in sosaku hanga style remained more of a hobby then a business. Tomikichiro Tokuriki once expressed it clearly in an interview:

"I'd rather do nothing but creative prints, but after all, I sell maybe ten of them against two hundred for a publisher-artisan print."

It can be assumed that the situation was precisely the same for Shiro Kasamatsu. The artist had created about 80 of his self-published 'hobby' prints between 1955 and 1965.

Shiro Kasamatsu - Gallery

Here are a few images more of some of the best woodblock print designs by Shiro Kasamatsu.

Ginza in a Spring Night

Shiro Kasamatsu 1898-1992
1934
Woodblock Print

Ohara in Autumn

Shiro Kasamatsu 1898-1992
1963
Woodblock Print

Early Summer at Benkei Bridge

Shiro Kasamatsu 1898-1992
1938
Woodblock Print

Nezu Gongen Shrine

Shiro Kasamatsu 1898-1992
1932
Woodblock Print

Shibu Hot Spring in Shinshu

Shiro Kasamatsu 1898-1992
1948
Woodblock Print

Road in Shinano

Shiro Kasamatsu 1898-1992
1964
Woodblock Print

Literature sources used for this Shiro Kasamatsu biography

• Dr. Andreas Grund, "Shiro Kasamatsu - The Complete Woodblock Prints", self-published by the author, 2001, Tokyo
• Helen Merritt and Nanako Yamada, "Guide to Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints: 1900-1975", published by University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, ISBN 0-8248-1732-X
• Helen Merritt, "Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints - The early years", published by University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, 1990, ISBN 0-8248-1200-X
• Oliver Statler, "Modern Japanese Prints: An Art Reborn", C. Tuttle, Tokyo, 1956, ISBN No. is 0-8048-0406-0

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