This drypoint print (made by engraving lines and shapes directly into a metal plate) has been hand-colored by artist Hasegawa Kiyoshi himself, and the entire image exudes an air of lightness. Perhaps summoned by the “magic” in the title, a bird, fish, butterflies, and a geometric cube symbolizing reason have revealed themselves. The woman in the center seems to wield the magic. Hasegawa repeatedly depicted muses and nudes throughout the 1920s and 1930s, and it is fair to count this figure among them. Hasegawa had long been fascinated by the painters Edvard Munch and Odilon Redon, who depicted invisible inner worlds and concepts in their art. The allusions and mysticism seen in their art is evident here in the form of magic.
(MINAMISHIMA Ko)
This drypoint print (made by engraving lines and shapes directly into a metal plate) has been hand-colored by artist Hasegawa Kiyoshi himself, and the entire image exudes an air of lightness. Perhaps summoned by the “magic” in the title, a bird, fish, butterflies, and a geometric cube symbolizing reason have revealed themselves. The woman in the center seems to wield the magic. Hasegawa repeatedly depicted muses and nudes throughout the 1920s and 1930s, and it is fair to count this figure among them. Hasegawa had long been fascinated by the painters Edvard Munch and Odilon Redon, who depicted invisible inner worlds and concepts in their art. The allusions and mysticism seen in their art is evident here in the form of magic.
(MINAMISHIMA Ko)