Neve Della Sera Al Tempio Kiyomizu - Kawase Hasui 川瀬巴水 (1883-1957) - Japan

This splendid work is a famous Japanese woodblock print by master Kawase Hasui (1883–1957), entitled "Evening Snow at Kiyomizu Temple" (Kiyomizu-dera no bosetsu - 清水寺の暮雪), from 1950.
Kawase Hasui is one of the leading figures of the Shin-hanga movement ("new prints"), which renewed the traditional art of ukiyo-e by blending it with realistic elements and lighting effects typical of Western painting.
The view shows the famous wooden terrace of Kiyomizu-dera Temple in Kyoto during a heavy evening snowfall. In the background, partly hidden by the imposing columns in the foreground, two figures with colored umbrellas can be glimpsed, providing the only touch of vivid color to the monochromatic and subdued composition.
On the left margin of the print, the original inscriptions in Japanese characters (kanji) are reported:
At the top of the margin: 清水寺の暮雪 (Kiyomizu-dera no bosetsu - "Evening Snow at Kiyomizu Temple").
At the bottom of the margin: 昭和廿五年作 (Shōwa nijūgo-nen saku - "Produced in 1950").
In the lower-left corner of the illustration, inside the dark frame, one can clearly notice the circular publisher’s seal of Watanabe.
The form and placement indicate that this is the so-called 6 mm Watanabe seal (used between 1946 and 1957).
In the lower right corner of the drawing, there is the Signature: the characters drawn in black read 巴水 (Hasui). This is the standard calligraphic signature that the artist Kawase Hasui placed on his works.
The Artist’s Seal: Immediately below the signature is his distinctive red seal (imprint), known as the Sui seal (巴), enclosed in a stylized form that resembles a leaf.
A crucial element in this woodblock print is the reddish circle stamped above the gray floor, placed right beneath the artist’s seal.
This is the famous 6 mm Watanabe seal (used by the publisher Watanabe Shōzaburō). In the early editions of this print (produced between 1946 and 1957, the year of Hasui’s death), this seal was usually printed in the lower-right corner (or lower-left depending on the composition).
Dimensions: 26.7 cm by 39.2 cm, 10.51 inches by 15.43 inches.