Shiro Kasamatsu (1898 - 1991)

Ueno Toshogu Shrine

14 1/4” x 9 3/8” (image size)

Signed ‘Shiro’ with red seal

Conservation Mount

Excellent condition

Lovely view of Ueno Toshogu Shrine in springtime, cherry trees covered with pink and mauve blossoms. A woman in an umbrella strolls along a pathway lined with stone lanterns, the spire of the pagoda behind them rising high into the sky. A beautiful design and wonderfully coloured.

Shiro Kasamatsu

Born in Tokyo, Shiro began studying art at a young age with the painter Kaburagi Kiyokata. He completed his first woodblock designs for Watanabe Shozaburo in 1919 after the publisher saw his paintings on exhibit. Shiro designed shin-hanga prints for Watanabe for many years, becoming well known for his romantic landscapes of famous landmarks and his scenes of traditional Japanese life. From 1952 to 1960, he created more than one hundred woodblock designs for the Kyoto publisher Unsodo. He also experimented with sosaku hanga or creative prints starting in the late 1950s, carving and printing his own designs. Shiro is regarded as one of the top shin-hanga woodblock print artists in Japan.

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