Details

In Clearing After a Snowfall, Yoshida, Hasui offers a sublime and reverent depiction of Mount Fuji as it rises over the quiet village of Yoshida, cloaked beneath a fresh blanket of snow. The roofs of thatched farmhouses lie heavy with white, their gentle slopes echoing the contours of the sacred peak behind. Two tiny figures tread carefully along a narrow path, their footprints disappearing into the silence of the morning.

The air is crystalline, and the first hues of dawn tint the sky with the palest peach, melting into an ethereal blue that suggests both the fragility and promise of a new day. Each architectural line is rendered with Hasui’s hallmark precision, while nature reigns in hushed grandeur, casting the village into poetic stillness.

Connoisseur's Note

Few artists captured the majesty of Fuji with the subtlety and emotional depth of Hasui. In this work, the mountain is not merely a symbol of Japan, but a living presence—towering yet intimate, eternal yet changing with the light. Hasui composed this scene in 1944, during the darkest years of the Pacific War. The design may have political undertones, as there is no sign of hardship here—only peace, purity, and the enduring beauty of the natural world.

Yoshida, located at the base of Fuji’s northern slope, has long been a starting point for pilgrims ascending the mountain. The serenity Hasui imparts may carry spiritual undertones: the snow, like a cleansing veil, hides the scars of time and reminds us of nature’s cyclical grace. The soft barren work of the snowbanks and rooftops enhances the tactile effect—this is a print not only to behold, but to feel. The bokashi gradation in the sky is especially delicate here, and the color balance—cool blues offset by warm, early light—is characteristic of Hasui's finest winter compositions.

This dai-ōban (double oban) format print features the seal of printer Ono Gintarō, a master craftsman who worked closely with publisher Watanabe Shōzaburō over many years. Between 1943 and 1947, prints by Hasui occasionally bore Ono’s personal seal in place of the typical Watanabe publisher mark. The presence of his seal on this impression marks it as an especially scarce and noteworthy edition—imbued with both rarity and historical significance.