Peter Irwin Brown was a Dutch-born print artist who visited Japan in the early Showa period and depicted Japanese landscapes within the framework of the shin-hanga movement.
He traveled to Japan between 1935 and 1936, during which time he produced a number of landscape prints. Bringing with him the sensibilities of Western traditions such as etching and watercolor painting, Brown approached Japanese scenery in a more objective and distinctly graphic manner.
The snow scenes he created differ markedly from the lyrical and emotive depictions favored by Japanese artists. Instead, they possess a cool transparency and a crisp, restrained beauty that evoke landscapes of Northern Europe or Britain. At the same time, Brown skillfully employed the craftsmen’s techniques of multicolor woodblock printing, achieving highly refined compositions—particularly in the subtle gradations of the sky and the rendering of reflections on water.
He traveled to Japan between 1935 and 1936, during which time he produced a number of landscape prints. Bringing with him the sensibilities of Western traditions such as etching and watercolor painting, Brown approached Japanese scenery in a more objective and distinctly graphic manner.
The snow scenes he created differ markedly from the lyrical and emotive depictions favored by Japanese artists. Instead, they possess a cool transparency and a crisp, restrained beauty that evoke landscapes of Northern Europe or Britain. At the same time, Brown skillfully employed the craftsmen’s techniques of multicolor woodblock printing, achieving highly refined compositions—particularly in the subtle gradations of the sky and the rendering of reflections on water.
