# Kawase Hasui artist context and auction value notes Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/kawase-hasui/ Profile generated: 2026-04-30T01:32:32.688Z Quality: high confidence, strong sources ## Artist identity - Birth date: 1883-05-18 - Death date: 1957-11-27 - Nationality: Japanese - Movements: Shin-hanga - Common media: Woodblock prints (hanga) ## About Kawase Hasui Kawase Hasui (1883–1957), born Kawase Bunjirō in Tokyo, was a Japanese printmaker widely regarded as one of the most important and prolific Japanese print artists of the twentieth century. He is best known as a leading designer within the shin-hanga movement, which revitalized traditional ukiyo-e woodblock printing by incorporating Western-influenced techniques for rendering light, atmosphere, and natural color. Hasui's prints are predominantly landscapes, distinguished by their sensitive treatment of seasonal weather, time of day, and the atmospheric conditions of specific locales across Japan. He collaborated closely with publisher Watanabe Shōzaburō, whose workshop produced the majority of Hasui's designs. His work attracted international attention during his lifetime and is now represented in major institutional collections, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Hasui's landscapes remain among the most collected Japanese woodblock prints of the modern era. ## Common works and media Kawase Hasui worked primarily in woodblock prints, with landscapes as his dominant subject. Common themes include rural and urban views of Japan — temples, shrines, bridges, coastal scenes, snowscapes, and seasonal landscapes. He produced designs for multiple print series over several decades, each typically featuring scenes from a specific region or travel route. His prints were created using traditional ukiyo-e collaborative methods: Hasui designed the composition, and skilled carvers and printers at the Watanabe workshop executed the woodblock editions. Most individual designs exist in multiple editions, with first editions generally being the most sought after by collectors. ## Market and appraisal context Kawase Hasui maintains one of the deepest and most liquid secondary markets of any modern Japanese printmaker. Appraisily's auction-record index tracks 2,903 total lots with 2,649 priced results spanning from October 2001 through April 2026 — a quarter-century of continuous turnover. The price distribution is wide but well-structured: the interquartile range runs from approximately $700 to $3,500 USD, with a median near $1,600. A long right tail reaches $152,400, reflecting premium early-edition designs and rare compositions that attract competitive bidding at major houses. Recent 12-month volume (364 lots) remains robust, though slightly below the prior 12-month period (437 lots), suggesting a still-active but modestly cooling market. Sales are distributed across at least ten named auction houses, including Christie's, Sotheby's, Bonhams, and specialist dealers such as Floating World Auctions and Woodblock Prints World, confirming broad institutional and specialist demand. Multiple currencies (USD, GBP, EUR, CAD) appear in recent results, indicating a genuinely international market. ## Auction-house-backed market evidence Kawase Hasui maintains one of the deepest and most liquid secondary markets of any modern Japanese printmaker. Appraisily's auction-record index tracks 2,903 total lots with 2,649 priced results spanning from October 2001 through April 2026 — a quarter-century of continuous turnover. The price distribution is wide but well-structured: the interquartile range runs from approximately $700 to $3,500 USD, with a median near $1,600. A long right tail reaches $152,400, reflecting premium early-edition designs and rare compositions that attract competitive bidding at major houses. Recent 12-month volume (364 lots) remains robust, though slightly below the prior 12-month period (437 lots), suggesting a still-active but modestly cooling market. Sales are distributed across at least ten named auction houses, including Christie's, Sotheby's, Bonhams, and specialist dealers such as Floating World Auctions and Woodblock Prints World, confirming broad institutional and specialist demand. Multiple currencies (USD, GBP, EUR, CAD) appear in recent results, indicating a genuinely international market. ### Appraisal notes Appraisily would use these auction records as a comparable-sales baseline, layered with a physical inspection of the print's paper quality, color fidelity, block wear, margin condition, and the presence of original publisher seals (especially Watanabe Shōzaburō), carver and printer marks, and series cartouches. Edition sequence matters significantly for Hasui: first-edition lifetime impressions command a strong premium over later Watanabe reprints or posthumous strikes. The appraiser would cross-reference the specific design title and series against the 2,649 priced results to locate narrow comparable lots, adjusting for date, auction house tier, and condition grade. Provenance documentation and the absence of fading, toning, or trimming further refine the valuation range. The wide price dispersion ($25–$152,400) means that generic estimates are unreliable; each print must be matched to its exact design and edition. ### Valuation factors - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] ### Collector notes - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] ### Market caveats - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] ### Market evidence sources - undefined: https://appraisily.com/api/scraper-search/artists/kawase-hasui/seo-profile?recentLimit=24&relatedLimit=0 - undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-kawase-hasui-1936-japanese-woodblock-print-106-c-eccd147b85 ## Appraisily data basis Appraisily artist pages combine artist identity research with auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. For Kawase Hasui, identity data is drawn from library authority files (Library of Congress, VIAF, RKD), museum records (MoMA), and biographical references. ## Sources - Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n85329515 - Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasui_Kawase - VIAF / OCLC: https://viaf.org/viaf/19929416/ - Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q344166 - The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/2534 - RKD — Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/278103