Background
Masahide Asahi ( 1900-1956) was born in Kyoto, where he graduated from high school. He joined the Asahi Shinbun Company, but wanted to be a printmaker, studying at the Kawabata Gakko (a private art school). Starting in 1922, he was a member and strong supporter of the Nihon Sôsaku Hanga Kyôkai (Japanese Creative Print Society 日本創作版画協会), where he also exhibited his artwork. Later, in 1931, he was a founding member of the Nihon Hanga Kyôkai (Japan Print Association: 日本版画協会). Asahi worked with the print artist Kishio Koizumi (小泉癸巳男 1893-1945) and others in various Sôsaku Hanga magazines, publishing several small magazines, included Hanga (Prints), Shi to hanga (Poetry and Prints 詩と版画), and Dessan (Sketches デッサン). He also contributed works to HANGA, Han geijutsu (Print Art 版芸術), and the collaborative series Shin Nihon hyakkei (of which the print illustrated is an example). Asahi was sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education as an organizer of Japanese print exhibitions, and he dedicated his life to disseminating knowledge to the public about Sôsaku Hanga and the creative printing process. In addition to many articles in hanga magazines and books on hanga techniques, he wrote an article on printmaking for the Art of the World Encyclopedia (Sekai bijutsu Zenshû 世界美術全集). He traveled abroad to Paris for the Nihon Hanga Kyôkai exhibition in 1933, and to other European cities and the United States in 1936. In the last year of the Pacific War, he worked at the Northeast Asai Culture Promotion Center in Manchuria.
Design
The Nihon Hanga Kyôkai published the collaborative series "100 Views of New Japan" (Shin Nihon hyakkei: 新日本百景) in groups of three at irregular intervals from December 1938 to June 1941 for a total of 39 prints by 33 different artists (six produced two designs each). It was edited by Fujimori Shizuo (藤森静雄 1891-1943), nos. 1 to 9, and Maekawa Senpan (前川千帆 1888-1960), nos. 10 to 39.
Sanjô Ôhashi is the final station along the Tôkaidô or the point of arrival when traveling from Edo (Tokyo) to Kyoto in all standard Tôkaidô series during the Edo periods. A modern concrete bridge replaced the old wooden structure in 1950. Rain and snow over the Ohashi bridge were popular subjects (see the Sekino view). Asahi presents an aerial view of the wooden bridge spanning the Kamo River with the Higashiyama (東山) district of Kyoto seen in the distance along with the pagoda of the Kiyomizu Temple (清水寺). Crossing the bridge are small, silhouetted figures holding umbrellas as the rain pours straight down. Asahi's style relies on slightly rounded forms in the drawing of outlines. In this charming view, the land on either side of the river is rendered with fresh, verdant greens and blues of late spring. There are some impressions that lack the artist seal (different later edition?).
Works by Asahi can be found such institutions as the Art Gallery of New South Wales; British Museum, London (2015,3006.15); Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh (89.28.713.27); and National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (MOMAT);
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