Morning at Mito Beach 1953

Hasui Kawase made 'Morning at Mito Beach' with a woodblock print, and the way he lays down these gorgeous blues and browns, you can really see the process. What I mean is, the graininess of the wood comes through in the colour fields, and they’re not these perfect, flat expanses of colour, which lets you see the working methods. He is kind of showing his hand, you know? Look at the way he renders the water, for example. Those subtle striations mimic the movement of the waves, right? But they also remind you that this is ink on paper. It kind of makes me think of Hiroshi Yoshida, another artist working with woodblocks, or maybe even some of the early Impressionists and their dedication to capturing light and atmosphere. What’s interesting to me is how the print captures the kind of ephemeral quality of the morning light, and also the timelessness of the Japanese landscape. It’s both specific and dreamlike.