Kasumu Yube, Shinobazu-no-ike Hotori
(Evening Mist around Shinobazu Pond Ueno), 1932
Shiro Kasamatsu (1898-1991) was born in Tokyo and became a student of painting and printmaking in the school of Kaburagi Kiyokata at the age of 13. In 1919 Watanabe Shozaburo, the publisher, saw the artist’s work and had him design woodblock prints. By the late 1940s Kasamatsu had created more than 50 prints commissioned and published by Watanabe. As with many other artists, his blocks were lost in the great earthquake of 1923, when fires destroyed Watanabe's print shop.
In the early 1950s Shiro Kasamatsu changed his publisher partner to Unsodo in Kyoto, creating nearly 100 prints for him. Theses are nearly all in Shin Hanga style, showing traditional subjects such as landscapes and a few interiors. These prints insured a steady income, and allowed the artist to branch out with other work.
At the same time as he was producing the Shin Hanga style work for Unsodo, Kasamatsu started experimenting in Sosaku Hanga style, all carved, printed and published by the artist himself. The style of these are more modern incorporating Western influences. The subjects are landscapes, many kacho-e - prints that show birds and flowers. During 1955 and 1965 he created about 80 prints in this style. He shows his true mastership in night, rain and in snow scenes.