Departing Spring Possibly 1925

Hasui Kawase probably made Departing Spring sometime in the first half of the 20th century, using traditional Japanese woodblock printing techniques. I imagine him starting with a sketch, then carving the blocks, and finally, layering the colors, one by one, to create this image. It's a portrait of a woman, her hand delicately raised to her hair; a pause in motion. I wonder, was he thinking about the fleeting nature of beauty? I’m struck by the palette: the soft yellow backdrop against the intricate floral patterns of her kimono, the way he balances the flatness of the background with all that detail, the graphic patterns of her obi. It’s such a conversation between the decorative and the representational. It reminds me of other artists who've explored similar themes like Kitagawa Utamaro. You can feel how artists are in an ongoing conversation, building on each other’s work. And ultimately, it’s about how we see, how we feel, and how we connect with the world through art.