Remaining Snow at Inokashira 1920

Curator: This is "Remaining Snow at Inokashira," a lovely woodblock print made by Hasui Kawase in 1920. It now resides at the Toledo Museum of Art. What strikes you about it? Editor: It has such a still, almost melancholy quality. The blues are very dominant, and those thin, bare trees against the snow suggest a certain quiet loneliness. Is it my imagination, or does this resonate with post-war feelings, perhaps a search for peace amidst disruption? Curator: That’s a fascinating observation. Kawase worked in a period of intense modernization and change in Japan. This image aligns with the shin-hanga movement which sought to revitalize traditional ukiyo-e woodblock printing, incorporating more Western artistic elements while depicting contemporary landscapes and scenes. Editor: Shin-hanga—new prints! So, there's a deliberate reclaiming of tradition happening here. Was this part of a broader movement of resistance against the rapid westernization? Did artists such as Kawase see the need to capture these landscapes before they disappeared under urban development? Curator: Precisely. You’re picking up on the tension. Shin-hanga artists often explored the beauty of everyday life, imbuing familiar scenes with a sense of nostalgia, even a longing for an idealized past, threatened by the changing world. Think of it almost like a painted form of elegy. I find the detail, for instance the delicate gradations in the sky and the subtle textures in the water, especially compelling. The solitary duck reinforces the themes. Editor: The lone duck, gliding across the water...almost as if undisturbed, as if nature is immutable regardless of change. But that feeling of quiet, undisturbed beauty might, as we hinted, mask the socio-political reality of disruption. In that respect, I would almost characterize it as a subtle act of resistance through artistic preservation. It makes me think about displacement and who has access to these spaces represented within it. Curator: Interesting thoughts. The play of light and shadow definitely conveys an almost ephemeral moment – those last vestiges of winter holding on. What a privilege it is, after all, to contemplate, together, the image of the very moment of winter turning slowly into spring!