Kawase Hasui (1883-1957), sometimes deemed "the foremost 20th-century Japanese landscape print artist," was a member of that loose association called the shin-hanga school, one purpose of which was to revitalize the classic ukiyo-e tradition in Japanese printmaking.
Active and widely published, Hasui was nonetheless not awarded a deserved critical regard until recently. Though he was designated a Living National Treasure in 1957, the year of his death, it was only in 1979 that the first monograph on his work appeared.
There were reasons for this neglect. One was that he was, as a critic once wrote, "aesthetically antiquated." Though this might seem well within the aims of those revitalizing the ukiyo-e tradition, it was nevertheless held against Hasui.