川西 英 展 －港町・神戸を刻んだ創作木版画 －
Hide Kawanishi Exhibition — Creative Woodblock Prints Carving the Port City of Kobe —
2026/09/05 - 2026/09/19
川田画廊では、創作木版画の巨匠 川西英（1894–1965）の展覧会を開催いたします。
川西英は、大正から昭和にかけて活躍し、港町・神戸の風景と人々の暮らしを、独自の感性で木版画に刻み続けた作家です。自画・自刻・自摺を貫く創作版画の姿勢のもと、街並み、港、坂道、商店、そして名もなき日常の一場面までを、力強く、そしてどこか温かみのある画面で表現しました。
本展では、代表作《神戸百景》をはじめ、神戸の四季や生活の息遣いが感じられる作品を中心にご紹介いたします。観光的な名所ではなく、生活の現場としての神戸を見つめる川西英の眼差しは、時代を越えてなお新鮮であり、現代に生きる私たちにとっても多くの示唆を与えてくれます。
大胆な構図と鮮やかな色彩、木版ならではのリズムある線。そこには、近代都市として成長していく神戸の躍動と、同時に失われていく風景への静かなまなざしが共存しています。川西英の版画は、美術作品であると同時に、ひとつの都市の記憶をとどめる文化的記録とも言えるでしょう。
神戸という街に深く根ざした作家・川西英。その作品世界を、あらためて現在の視点から見つめ直す機会となれば幸いです。
Hide Kawanishi Exhibition
Kawata Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of Kawanishi Hide (1894–1965), a master of sōsaku-hanga (creative woodblock printing).
Active from the Taishō through the Shōwa periods, Kawanishi Hide devoted his career to depicting the landscapes and everyday lives of the port city of Kobe, carving them into wood with a highly personal sensibility. Faithful to the principles of creative printmaking—drawing, carving, and printing by his own hand—he portrayed streets, harbors, hillsides, shops, and unremarkable moments of daily life with both strength and quiet warmth.
This exhibition centers on works from his celebrated series Kobe Hyakkei (One Hundred Views of Kobe), alongside other prints that vividly convey the city’s seasons and the pulse of everyday living. Rather than focusing on tourist landmarks, Kawanishi turned his gaze toward Kobe as a lived environment. That perspective remains strikingly fresh today, offering insights that continue to resonate with contemporary viewers.
Bold compositions, luminous color, and rhythmical lines unique to woodblock printing characterize his work. Within these images coexist the vitality of a modern city in formation and a gentle awareness of landscapes destined to disappear. Kawanishi Hide’s prints are not only works of art, but also cultural records preserving the memory of a city.
Deeply rooted in Kobe, Kawanishi Hide stands as an artist inseparable from the spirit of the city. We hope this exhibition provides an opportunity to reexamine his work from a present-day perspective.