A lone boatman poles through falling snow past a lit window

Snow falls through a deep blue night over a wide river. On the far bank thatched houses carry thick white roofs, one window glowing yellow, with snow-laden pines and a single tall cedar rising behind them. A lone boat crosses the blue-green water in the foreground, a figure in a straw hat and pale coat standing to pole it, and the lit window falls into the river as a streak of gold. White flakes are scattered across the whole sheet, sky and water alike.

Kawase Hasui (1883–1957) was the defining landscape artist of shin-hanga, the movement that carried Japanese woodblock printing into the twentieth century. From 1918 he worked with the publisher Watanabe Shōzaburō, travelling almost continuously through Japan and turning roadside sketches into prints of unusual atmospheric precision. Snow, rain and failing light were his real subjects, as much as any temple or harbour. In 1956 Japan recognised his woodblock technique as an Intangible Cultural Property. His prints are held by the British Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Printed as a museum-grade giclée on Hahnemühle fine art paper using 12-ink archival pigment printing. Available handframed in FSC-certified wood with optional float glass, or unframed. Ships worldwide with free delivery to 30+ countries.